 In December 2018, Ofsted judged the Steiner Academy Exeter as inadequate and ordered it to be transferred to a multi-academy trust; it was temporarily closed in October 2018 because of concerns.The concerns included significant lapses in safeguarding, and mistreating children with special educational needs and disabilities, and misspending the funding designated for them.Another incident was that in July 2018, two 6-year-old children were found by police having walked out of the school unnoticed, and their parents were not informed until the end of the day.