Students are admitted to the school after a full assessment process and are referred to the school by the Lewisham Education Special Educational Needs Service Unit.

All students have severe learning difficulties some have PMLD.  Most students will be working at pre level 1 of the National curriculum with some students working at Level 1 or 2 of the National curriculum. In exceptional cases some students may be working at level 3 in some areas of the curriculum.  A maximum of 100 students can be accommodated.  Students who will benefit from a placement at the school are those who require a small, supportive educational environment.

Students may also have other disabilities in addition to their severe learning difficulty such as physical disabilities, Hearing and visual impairment or emotional difficulties. If students show some behavioural difficulties, these will be subsidiary to difficulties arising from their learning difficulty.

Greenvale School has a significant number of students who are extremely vulnerable, however, the needs of students who have complex needs, including those who have some features of autism, can be met by the school, providing:

1. their behaviour does not put themselves
or others seriously at risk.
2. they do not require a 1:1 adult ratio to
manage their behaviour, unless this is
specifically funded.

The school has a Nursing Support Assistant to provide medical supervision but is not able to offer places to students who require a very high level of medical support.