Bevendean Primary School and Nursery

Bevendean Primary School and Nursery is a highly inclusive school where pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, achieve well and are well prepared for their next steps. The inspection found strong provision across the board: the quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision are good, while behaviour and attitudes and personal development are outstanding. Pupils are calm, purposeful and absorbed in learning, and they benefit from a rich curriculum, strong reading provision, effective support for pupils with SEND, and a wide range of personal development opportunities. The school knows its local community well and uses that knowledge to shape a curriculum that meets pupils’ needs. Governors provide close oversight and challenge, staff are well trained, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Pupils with SEND, including those in the specially resourced provision for deaf pupils, are accurately identified and well supported. Attendance work is making a positive difference, and pupils value the sensitive support available to help them manage emotions and move between year groups. The main area for improvement is writing. Pupils are not consistently given enough opportunities to apply their writing skills across the curriculum, which limits how deeply they can apply knowledge in different subjects. In the early years, some children do not consistently form letters correctly, and staff need the knowledge and expertise to address this and promote relevant writing opportunities. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has a nursery and a specially resourced provision for deaf pupils known as ‘The Launchpad’.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive school that keeps pupils at the heart of decisions
• Pupils, including those with SEND, achieve highly and are well prepared for next steps
• Impeccable pupil behaviour and a calm, purposeful learning environment
• Pupils are absorbed in learning and consistently try their best
• Rich, engaging curriculum shaped by strong understanding of the local community
• Governors provide close oversight and appropriate support and challenge
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and are well trained and supported
• Reading is prioritised, with well-trained phonics staff and effective help for struggling readers
• Pupils with SEND, including deaf pupils in The Launchpad, are well supported
• Effective action on attendance is making a positive difference, including for disadvantaged pupils
• Exceptional support for pupils moving between year groups
• Wide range of clubs, trips and leadership roles enriches pupils’ personal development
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils are not consistently given enough opportunities to apply writing skills across the curriculum
• Limited cross-curricular writing restricts opportunities to deepen understanding in different subjects
• Some younger children in the early years do not consistently form letters correctly
• Staff need the knowledge and expertise to address errors in letter formation and promote relevant writing opportunities

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Bevendean Primary School and Nursery attended 93.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 1.0% of pupils at Bevendean Primary School and Nursery were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Bevendean Primary School and Nursery had 19.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.6% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 29.3% of pupils at Bevendean Primary School and Nursery were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 10 pupils.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Bevendean Primary School and Nursery received £7,559 and spent £7,645 for each of its 317 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £77,000 (£242 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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What is Bevendean Primary School and Nursery's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bevendean Primary School and Nursery is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Bevendean Primary School and Nursery last inspected by Ofsted?

Bevendean Primary School and Nursery was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Bevendean Primary School and Nursery have?

Bevendean Primary School and Nursery has 317 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bevendean Primary School and Nursery cover?

Bevendean Primary School and Nursery for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Bevendean Primary School and Nursery's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Bevendean Primary School and Nursery?

Bevendean Primary School and Nursery is at Heath Hill Avenue, Lower Bevendean, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 4JP.