Brighton Ofsted Results: Hill Park Strong in All 7 Areas

Hill Park School in Portslade has been graded Strong standard in every one of its seven areas under Ofsted’s new report cards. It is the best result among the seven Brighton & Hove state schools whose cards have been published since the start of September.

At the other end, Longhill High School in Rottingdean was graded Needs attention in four of its six areas. Blatchington Mill School in Hove was graded Needs attention for attendance and behaviour. Every one of the seven met Ofsted’s safeguarding standards.

The grades come from each school’s report card on Ofsted’s reports site. Most of the inspections took place in June and July; the most recent card, Coldean Primary’s, was published on 14 October.

How the new grades work

Report cards replaced the old one-word judgements such as “Good” and “Outstanding”. Each school is now graded on several areas, on a five-point scale. From the top, the grades are:

• Exceptional: “of the highest standard nationally”
• Strong standard: leaders are working above the standard expected of them
• Expected standard: the school is meeting the expected standard
• Needs attention: expected standards are not met, but leaders are “likely able to make the necessary improvements”
• Urgent improvement

Safeguarding is judged separately, as met or not met.

The seven schools

Hill Park: “for many families, this is life changing”

Hill Park is a special school for pupils aged 4 to 16 on Foredown Road. Every one of its 264 pupils at the time of the inspection had an education, health and care plan. The school now runs across three sites, each led by a deputy headteacher, after opening a new site called The Hive.

Inspectors visited on 7 July. They graded it Strong standard for achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development (report card).

“The school is highly inclusive,” the report says. “All pupils have the support they need to thrive. For many families, this is life changing.” It also notes that “pupils behave very well” and that “a sense of excited calm permeates the school”. Every pupil leaves with “a number of appropriate qualifications”.

Ofsted’s one next step is for the school to keep sharing its work with other local schools “to effectively model best practice”.

The primaries

West Blatchington Primary and Nursery in Hangleton was graded Strong standard for early years, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing, and Expected standard in its other four areas. It was inspected on 15 September. At the time, 54% of its 216 pupils were eligible for free school meals, well above average (report card). The school is an academy in The Pioneer Academy trust.

Coldean Primary was graded Strong standard for curriculum and teaching and for early years, and Expected standard in the other five. Inspectors visited on 9 September. They found pupils’ reading and writing results at the end of Year 6 “typically close to national averages”. Leaders “know there is still further work to be done” on maths (report card).

Brackenbury Primary on Locks Hill, Portslade, was graded Strong standard for personal development and wellbeing and Expected standard elsewhere. It was inspected on 23 June (report card).

Queen’s Park Primary on Park Street was graded Expected standard in all seven areas. It was inspected on 14 July (report card).

The two secondaries

Both secondary schools were inspected on 9 June, and both have attendance at the centre of their next steps.

Longhill High School was graded Needs attention for achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance. It was graded Expected standard for inclusion and for personal development and wellbeing (report card).

Inspectors wrote that “pupils do not achieve as well as they should” and that test results are below national averages. Attendance “remains significantly below national averages”, although it “has improved recently”. The report is clear that behaviour itself is not the problem: “pupils behave well” and inspectors describe “a calm and orderly environment”. The Needs attention grade in that area comes from attendance.

Ofsted’s next steps for Longhill are:

• leaders should check the impact of their actions and adjust them
• staff should use assessment in lessons to spot gaps in pupils’ understanding
• the school must sustain its recent work on attendance
• all staff should get the support they need to teach consistently well

Blatchington Mill School in Hove, the larger of the two with 1,635 pupils at the time, was graded Strong standard for inclusion. It was graded Expected standard for achievement, curriculum and teaching, leadership and governance, and personal development (report card).

Its one Needs attention grade is attendance and behaviour. Attendance “has declined over time, including among those who are vulnerable”, and the share of pupils persistently and severely absent “is high”. Inspectors found “early signs of positive improvement” and credit the school’s “Brilliant Blatch Behaviour” approach for high expectations of behaviour. On results, the report says pupils “consistently achieve well in national examinations, including in English and mathematics”.

What it means for you

• If your child is at Longhill or Blatchington Mill: Ofsted says it carries out monitoring inspections of schools with any area graded Needs attention, so expect inspectors back before the usual four-year cycle.
• If you are choosing a secondary school for September 2027: applications close on 31 October. Our secondary school places page has the catchment and oversubscription detail.
• Reading a card: each school’s full report card, with its attendance and results data, is free on the links in the table above. Half term dates are on our term dates page.

Earlier this month the Jeanne Saunders Centre nursery was graded Exceptional in all six areas.

Team Domenica, the independent specialist college on Pavilion Buildings whose stated aim is helping young people with learning disabilities and autism “to succeed in work and thrive in life”, also had a card published on 14 September. It is graded on a different framework for colleges: Strong standard for inclusion and for participation and development, and Expected standard for achievement, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance (report card).