Varndean School
Secondary · Community school · Mixed · Brighton and Hove
Balfour Road, Brighton, BN1 6NP
76
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 05/10/2022
Application demand
65%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
90.8%
21.9% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,487
Capacity used
Nearly full99%
1,500 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
65%
1st preference success rate
269 of 411 families who put it first got an offer
285
Places offered
977
Total applications
3.4
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 411 | 269 | ● 65% |
| 2nd preference | 378 | 13 | ● 3% |
| 3rd preference | 188 | 3 | ● 2% |
| Total | 977 | 285 | 29% |
1st preference success by year
Brighton and Hove lets families list 3 preferences. 8 applications came from outside the council area (0 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Community school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Shelley Baker
- Address
- Balfour Road, Brighton, BN1 6NP
- Phone
- 01273561281
- Local authority
- Brighton and Hove
- Ward / constituency
- Preston Park · Brighton Pavilion
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 114579
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 23% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 10% | — | — |
| SEN support | 23% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,487 pupils · 1,500 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 22
05 October 2022
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessPersonal development Outstanding Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,528 pupils
Attendance
90.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.2%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
21.9%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
4.7%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.7%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 53.5 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.42 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 66% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 80% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.99 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 48.8 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 55.9% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 72.9% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 67.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.54 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 299 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 297 | 34% | 65% | 78% | |
| English Language | 297 | 21% | 57% | 73% | |
| English Literature | 285 | 20% | 63% | 77% | |
| Combined Science | 191 | 7% | 37% | 64% | |
| History | 138 | 23% | 51% | 60% | |
| Geography | 127 | 34% | 64% | 75% | |
| Spanish | 118 | 21% | 53% | 65% | |
| Physics | 96 | 41% | 94% | 97% | |
| Chemistry | 95 | 46% | 93% | 98% | |
| Biology | 94 | 49% | 95% | 100% | |
| Social Studies | 90 | 23% | 59% | 71% | |
| French | 88 | 40% | 65% | 67% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Brighton and Hove council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.