St Michael's Church of England Primary School
Primary · Playden Rye · TN31 7PJ
Data updated
SchoolFacts estimate: Ofsted awarded no overall grade at this inspection
We show the lowest of the four areas Ofsted did judge, listed below. Why some schools have no overall grade →
Inspected 23 April 2025
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
75 pupils · 71% of 105 capacity (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Voluntary controlled school
- Age range
- 5–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Free school meals
- 26.7% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 2.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 18.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 2.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Website
- http://www.playdenschool.com
- URN
- 114520
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 5 families named it first for 5 Reception places, 1.00 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2023 entry went to 3113 m (≈1.93 mi); distance decided places in 4 of the 10 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2017 to 2026. At its inspection on 23 April 2025 Ofsted awarded no overall grade; the lowest of the four areas it judged was Requires improvement. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 7.4% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026
1.00 first-choice applications per place5 places offered · 5 first-choice applications · roughly balanced
First-choice applications per place, by entry year
Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured
Catchment area
Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.
Admissions cutoff distance: Reception
Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.
Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2023 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 3113 m (≈1.93 mi)
measured in a straight line.
Premium shows the exact distance behind every year back to 2017.
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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: East Sussex school admissions
Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)
9 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means
Schools with a similar intake
Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025
On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.
They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 95% (East Sussex 81%, England 60%) · Any other Asian background 3% (East Sussex 1%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (East Sussex 1%, England 2%) · Any other White background 1% (East Sussex 5%, England 7%)
Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures
Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)
Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)
4.94 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · East Sussex: 2.91 suspensions and 0.08 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained primaries: 0.18% vacant, 0.36% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
57.1% of teachers took sickness absence, 1.4 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days
Teacher pay (November 2025)
Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £56,989; 28.6% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%
Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
Spending per pupil (2025-26)
Where the money went (2025-26)
Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 79% (76%) · premises 5% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 5% (8%) · supplies and services 12% (9%) · educational supplies 4% (4%) · bought-in professional services 5% (3%) · catering 3% (5%)
Reserves (2025-26)
Revenue reserve £36,033; in-year balance -£30,114
Spending and reserves, last three years Premium
Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.
Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared
Inspection history since 2015
- 23 April 2025: Requires improvement
- 26 November 2019: Section 8 inspections of good and non-exempt outstanding schools
- 4 May 2016: Yes - improving (good)
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 4/10more deprived than most of England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 2/10among the most deprived fifth of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 28.5% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 21% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 32.3% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 19.3% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 40.9% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 71.6% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 10.7% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 17.7% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 56.9% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 9.1% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 26.5% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 12% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01021103 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £440,00082 sales within 2 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £325,000–£612,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are dearer than three quarters of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 2 km across every state school.
Inside the Reception cutoff distance (3.11 km, 2023 entry): 232 sales, median £387,500. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.
Fewer than ten homes sold within 1 km, so the figures use 2 km.
Source: HM Land Registry sales within 2 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Roads around the school
No collision was reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025.
- Child pedestrian casualties
- 0a rural school averages 0.3
- Collisions at school-run times
- 0a rural school averages 0.7
- All reported collisions
- 0a rural school averages 3.4
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 0a rural school averages 0.9
A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted
Nearby schools
- Rye College
- Rye Community Primary School
- Peasmarsh Church of England Primary School
- Wittersham Church of England Primary School
- St Thomas' Church of England Aided Primary School
- Brookland Church of England Primary School
- Beckley Church of England Primary School
- Icklesham Church of England Primary School and Nursery