Fairlight Primary School

Fairlight Primary School continues to perform well, maintaining its overall 'good' rating following the recent ungraded inspection. The inspectors noted that the evidence suggests the school might achieve an 'outstanding' rating in a future graded inspection. Pupils are welcomed into a nurturing environment that prioritizes safety and well-being, allowing them to thrive academically and socially. The school places a strong emphasis on academic achievement while also promoting emotional intelligence and respect for diversity among its student body.

Strengths

• The school has developed a broad and ambitious curriculum from Nursery to Year 6.
• Pupils feel safe, welcomed, and deeply respected in a nurturing and inclusive environment.
• Reading is taught exceptionally well, with a strong focus on communication and language skills.
• Teachers adapt their teaching effectively for pupils with SEND, ensuring they access the same curriculum as their peers.
• Pupils achieve well and make excellent progress by the end of key stage 2.
• Governors are committed to supporting leaders and understand their statutory duties well.

Areas for Improvement

• A proportion of pupils do not meet the end of key stage 1 expectations.

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 Fairlight Primary School attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.7% 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, 1.6% of pupils at Fairlight Primary School 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 Fairlight Primary School had 17.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.0% 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, 24.7% of pupils at Fairlight Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 Fairlight Primary School received £7,527 and spent £7,769 for each of its 380 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £219,000 (-£577 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 Fairlight Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Fairlight Primary School is Good, from an inspection in July 2024.

When was Fairlight Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Fairlight Primary School was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does Fairlight Primary School have?

Fairlight Primary School has 393 pupils on roll.

What age range does Fairlight Primary School cover?

Fairlight Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Fairlight Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 51% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Fairlight Primary School?

Fairlight Primary School is at St Leonard's Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 3AJ.