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Warden Park Secondary Academy

Secondary · Haywards Heath · RH17 5DP

Data updated

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Expected standard

Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)

The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.

Safeguarding: MetCurriculum & teaching: Expected standardAchievement: Expected standardAttendance & behaviour: Strong standardPersonal development: Strong standardInclusion: Strong standardLeadership & governance: Strong standardEarly years: Not applicablePost-16: Not applicable

Inspected 2 June 2026 · report published 8 July 2026

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,541 pupils · 103% of 1,500 capacity (over capacity) (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–16
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
12.2% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
7.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
15.2% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
4.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
http://www.wardenpark.co.uk
URN
137416

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 350 families named it first for 322 Year 7 places, 1.09 first choices per place. Its last Year 7 place offered on distance for 2026 entry went to 2026.54 m (≈1.26 mi); distance decided places in 3 of the 7 years of Year 7 rounds we hold, 2020 to 2026. At its report-card inspection on 2 June 2026, under the system Ofsted introduced in November 2025, the Achievement area was judged Expected standard. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 7.2% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

1.09 first-choice applications per place

322 places offered · 350 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Places by distance, last offered at 2026.54 m (≈1.26 mi) for 2026 entry.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 2026.54 m (≈1.26 mi)

measured in a straight line.

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Would you have got in? Check your postcode

One free check a month, no account needed: your postcode against this school's cutoff history. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools you would be inside, and the address check across every school at once.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

GCSE results (2024/2025)

292 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
52.4
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
79.1%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
58.2%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
4.6
England 4.1

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

This school52.4
Median of its 12 closest peers49.6
West Sussex average46.6
England46.1

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.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Malmesbury SchoolMalmesbury · 94 miles awayOutstanding49.8
The Chauncy SchoolWare · 56 miles awayOutstanding49.5
Richard Lander SchoolTruro · 224 miles awayGood51
Wood Green SchoolWitney · 79 miles awayNo current grade46.2
Hethersett AcademyNorwich · 124 miles awayOutstanding59
Faringdon Community CollegeFaringdon · 77 miles awayGood43.7
Ashton-on-Mersey SchoolSale · 191 miles awayGood52.1
Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic CollegeAltrincham · 189 miles awayGood48.9
Wymondham CollegeWymondham · 118 miles awayOutstanding56.4
Holmer Green Senior SchoolHigh Wycombe · 52 miles awayExpected standard47.1
Sawston Village CollegeCambridge · 79 miles awayGood55.5
The Warriner SchoolBanbury · 88 miles awayGood44.3

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Special educational needs

Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.

Provision type: Resourced provision and SEN unit.

SEN unit
28 of 28 places taken full, or over capacity
Resourced provision
23 of 23 places taken full, or over capacity

Unit places come from the school census and describe the position when it was taken, not today. Confirm with the local authority before relying on them.

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 80% (West Sussex 74%, England 59%) · Any other White background 6% (West Sussex 7%, England 7%) · Any other Asian background 2% (West Sussex 2%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 2% (West Sussex 2%, England 4%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (West Sussex 2%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (West Sussex 1%, England 1%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (West Sussex 1%, England 3%) · Black African 1% (West Sussex 2%, England 5%) · Any other Mixed background 1% (West Sussex 2%, England 3%) · Asian Bangladeshi 1% (West Sussex 1%, England 2%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (West Sussex 1%, England 2%) · other groups together 2%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
7.2%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
17.1%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

3.90 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, secondary schools: 21.24 suspensions and 0.23 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · West Sussex: 16.16 suspensions and 0.17 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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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

Pupils per qualified teacher
16.9
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

95% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 3% moved to another state school · 2% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, secondary academies: 0.45% vacant, 0.33% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

77.8% of teachers took sickness absence, 6 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 £51,890; 7.3% on the leadership pay range · England, secondary schools: £53,766, 11.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2024-25)

This school£7,431
Typical secondary school£7,846

Where the money went (2024-25)

Share of spending, with the median for secondary schools in brackets: Staff 79% (77%) · premises 5% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 3% (6%) · supplies and services 13% (11%) · educational supplies 7% (6%) · bought-in professional services 3% (1%) · catering 1% (3%)

Reserves (2024-25)

Revenue reserve £313,000; in-year balance +£27,000

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
95%
Continuing in education
91%
Apprenticeship
1%
Employment
2%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, DfE destination measures in the 2024/2025 performance tables.

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
9/10among the least deprived fifth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
8/10less deprived than most of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher48.3%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications8.2%18.1%
In managerial or professional work53.3%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways7.6%18.1%
Residents in very good health55.3%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier76.3%62.3%
Social housing8.6%17.1%
Privately rented15.1%20.5%
Detached houses41.8%22.9%
Flats21.7%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms41.5%21.1%
Households with no car or van8.4%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01035349 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£571,500100 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£413,500–£869,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (37)£930,000
Semi-detached (27)£537,000
Terraced (22)£475,000
Flat (14)£249,000

Homes around this school are among the dearest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Year 7 cutoff distance (2.03 km, 2026 entry): 493 sales, median £467,500. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

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
2a rural school averages 0.3
Collisions at school-run times
4a rural school averages 0.7
All reported collisions
6a rural school averages 3.4
Of those, serious or fatal
1a 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