Longhill High School

Longhill High School is a secondary school with 723 pupils and a context that includes a well-above-average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with SEN support, plus a resourced provision for specific learning difficulties. Safeguarding standards are met. The inspection found a mixed picture: inclusion and personal development are expected standard, and there are clear strengths in the school's caring culture, behaviour, enrichment and careers education. However, achievement, attendance, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance need attention. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Progress is inconsistent, test results are below national averages, and disadvantaged pupils and those with extended absence have gaps that are not closed quickly enough. Attendance remains significantly below national averages, with high persistent absence, meaning many pupils miss vital learning. Teaching is not implemented consistently well; in-lesson assessment is not precise enough, writing and spelling errors are not always picked up quickly, and tasks are not consistently adapted to pupils' different needs. Leaders have identified the right priorities, but their efforts have had mixed success and some lack precise understanding of impact. The school's inclusion work is careful and well designed, with detailed provision plans and strong support for pupils' needs. Personal development is broad, including PSHE, diversity education and many enrichment opportunities, and pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Behaviour is positive, bullying is rare, and relationships between staff and pupils are warm. Governors provide effective oversight, and staff feel valued. The next steps focus on checking the impact of actions more carefully, improving in-lesson assessment and adaptation, sustaining recent attendance improvements, and ensuring all staff apply teaching expectations consistently.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe and well cared for.
• Leaders identify pupils' needs carefully and produce detailed provision plans.
• Inclusion work is strong, with effective support that helps pupils overcome barriers to learning.
• The pupil premium strategy is well designed and closely matched to identified challenges.
• Support for pupils known to social care is precise and helps them thrive.
• Alternative provision is used consistently well, with careful tracking of engagement and attendance.
• Personal development is broad, including a well-structured PSHE curriculum and diversity education.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain and show mature attitudes to diversity and tolerance.
• Enrichment is strong, with a wide range of clubs, trips and pupil council roles and no financial barriers.
• Careers education is well designed, with employer interactions and work experience preparing pupils for next steps.
• Pupils behave well, have positive attitudes to learning and benefit from a calm, orderly environment.
• Bullying is rare and staff manage incidents swiftly, helping pupils feel safe.
• Pupils become increasingly fluent and confident readers and enjoy reading more.
• Staff build warm relationships with pupils and have consistently high expectations of behaviour.
• Governors provide effective oversight, challenge and support, including on additional funding.
• Staff feel valued, and there is a strong team ethos with shared high ambition for pupils.
• Pupils with SEND generally make appropriate progress against their personalised targets.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not achieve as well as they should, and progress through the curriculum is inconsistent.
• Pupils' performance in tests is below national averages.
• Pupils with extended periods of absence have gaps in learning that are not narrowed quickly enough.
• Disadvantaged pupils do not achieve well compared with similar pupils nationally.
• Pupils' writing accuracy does not improve as well as it should.
• Attendance remains significantly below national averages, so many pupils miss too much learning.
• Persistent absence is high, with almost half of pupils missing at least 10% of sessions.
• Leaders' understanding of the impact of attendance actions lacks detail, so actions do not always work.
• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent across the school.
• Teachers' ongoing checks on learning during lessons are not precise enough.
• Teachers do not always identify inaccuracies in pupils' writing or spelling swiftly.
• Teachers do not consistently adapt approaches and activities to meet pupils' different needs.
• Support is less effective for pupils with weaknesses in transcription or mathematics.
• Leaders' efforts to address historic weaknesses have had mixed success in attendance, curriculum and teaching.
• Some leaders lack precise understanding of the impact of their work, so they cannot adapt approaches swiftly enough.

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 Longhill High School attended 83.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 48.0% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 19.9% of pupils at Longhill High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 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 Longhill High School had 18.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 31.0% of pupils at Longhill High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Longhill High School received £10,646 and spent £11,215 for each of its 641 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £167,000 (£261 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 Longhill High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Longhill High School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Longhill High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Longhill High School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Longhill High School have?

Longhill High School has 632 pupils on roll.

What age range does Longhill High School cover?

Longhill High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Longhill High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 36.3, and 23% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Longhill High School?

Longhill High School is at Falmer Road, Rottingdean, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 7FR.