Downlands Community School
Secondary · Community school · Mixed · West Sussex
Dale Avenue, Hassocks, BN6 8LP
78
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 04/10/2022
Application demand
84%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
92.4%
19.1% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,250
Capacity used
Over capacity104%
1,200 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
84%
1st preference success rate
230 of 274 families who put it first got an offer
234
Places offered
517
Total applications
2.2
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 274 | 230 | ● 84% |
| 2nd preference | 135 | 4 | ● 3% |
| 3rd preference | 108 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 517 | 234 | 45% |
1st preference success by year
West Sussex lets families list 3 preferences. 32 applications came from outside the council area (16 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
- Matt Ashdown
- Address
- Dale Avenue, Hassocks, BN6 8LP
- Phone
- 01273845892
- Local authority
- West Sussex
- Ward / constituency
- Hassocks · Mid Sussex
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 126087
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 8% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 3% | — | — |
| SEN support | 20% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,250 pupils · 1,200 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 22
04 October 2022
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessPersonal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,264 pupils
Attendance
92.4%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.6%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
19.1%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.7%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.4%
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 | 54.9 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.53 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 58% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 77% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 5.06 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 57.3 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 66.2% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 85.7% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 75.8% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 5.33 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 231 | — |
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 | 230 | 29% | 70% | 88% | |
| English Language | 230 | 38% | 79% | 92% | |
| English Literature | 229 | 24% | 74% | 88% | |
| Combined Science | 195 | 18% | 58% | 79% | |
| Geography | 158 | 46% | 77% | 87% | |
| Art and Design | 80 | 41% | 84% | 89% | |
| History | 74 | 31% | 66% | 81% | |
| French | 68 | 34% | 74% | 85% | |
| German | 61 | 31% | 62% | 80% | |
| Computer Science | 51 | 49% | 82% | 86% | |
| Spanish | 49 | 20% | 41% | 65% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 49 | 31% | 73% | 86% |
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 West Sussex 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.