Varndean School
Secondary · Brighton · BN1 6NP
Data updated
Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system
This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.
Inspected 5 October 2022
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
1,487 pupils · 99% of 1,500 capacity (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Community school
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Free school meals
- 23% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 9.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 24.8% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 6.2% of pupils (2024/2025)
- Website
- http://www.varndean.co.uk
- URN
- 114579
In figures
For September 2026 entry, 350 families named it first for 279 Year 7 places, 1.25 first choices per place. We hold 5 Year 7 admissions rounds for it, 2022 to 2026; none was decided by a published distance. Ofsted last graded it Good on 5 October 2022, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 8.9% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026
1.25 first-choice applications per place279 places offered · 350 first-choice applications · oversubscribed
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 place for 2026 entry went to children who met a higher admission criterion, so distance did not decide any place.
Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7
Every place for 2026 entry went to children who met a higher admission criterion, so distance did not decide any place.
Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work
Compare admissions across the area: Brighton school admissions · Brighton and Hove school admissions
GCSE results (2024/2025)
299 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025
Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means
Schools with a similar intake
Attainment 8, 2024/2025
On attainment 8, this school is ahead of 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.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Oldfield School | 47.3 | |
| Alderbrook School | 54.2 | |
| Patcham High School | 45.5 | |
| High Tunstall College of Science | 44.3 | |
| Beckfoot School | 53 | |
| The Priory Ruskin Academy | 41.4 | |
| The Marlborough Church of England School | 55.4 | |
| Thomas Tallis School | 45.6 | |
| Bishop Fox's School | 46.9 | |
| Sprowston Community Academy | 45 | |
| The Warriner School | 44.3 | |
| Priestnall School | 52.6 |
It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 69% (Brighton and Hove 67%, England 59%) · Any other White background 8% (Brighton and Hove 8%, England 7%) · Mixed White and Asian 4% (Brighton and Hove 3%, England 2%) · Any other Mixed background 3% (Brighton and Hove 4%, England 3%) · Not recorded 3% (Brighton and Hove 1%, England 2%) · Any other ethnic group 2% (Brighton and Hove 3%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Brighton and Hove 2%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (Brighton and Hove 2%, England 2%) · Asian Chinese 1% (Brighton and Hove 1%, England 1%) · Any other Asian background 1% (Brighton and Hove 2%, England 3%) · Black African 1% (Brighton and Hove 3%, England 5%) · White Irish 1% (Brighton and Hove 1%, England 0%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (Brighton and Hove 1%, England 2%) · Asian Indian 1% (Brighton and Hove 1%, England 4%) · other groups together 1%
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)
6.48 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Brighton and Hove: 13.03 suspensions and 0.01 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.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
90% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 2% moved to another state school · 8% left the state-funded sector
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained secondaries: 0.22% vacant, 0.42% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
77.5% of teachers took sickness absence, 10.5 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 £50,133; 8.4% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%
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 secondary schools in brackets: Staff 71% (77%) · premises 7% (6%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 10% (7%) · supplies and services 15% (10%) · educational supplies 10% (6%) · bought-in professional services 1% (2%) · catering 5% (3%)
Reserves (2025-26)
Revenue reserve £740,538; in-year balance +£78,630
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
Where pupils go after GCSEs
Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.
Inspection history since 2015
- 5 October 2022: Good
- 5 July 2017: Yes - improving (good)
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 10/10among the least deprived tenth of England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 10/10among the least deprived tenth of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 58.7% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 7.6% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 56.9% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 9.7% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 57% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 87.3% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 5.9% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 6.9% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 59.2% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 14% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 54.8% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 11.7% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01017001 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £552,500548 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £421,000–£755,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are among the dearest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 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
- Child pedestrian casualties
- 3an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 6an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 12an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 4an urban school averages 6.1
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