Southwater Junior Academy

Southwater Junior Academy continues to demonstrate good performance, providing a broad and engaging curriculum that fosters academic and personal development. Pupils are well-supported, value their education, and feel safe in a nurturing environment where bullying is uncommon. The school effectively promotes kindness and resilience among students, equipping them with essential life skills through various leadership opportunities and extracurricular activities.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy a broad and exciting curriculum.
• Strong leadership leads to high expectations for all pupils.
• Pupils with SEND receive bespoke support to access the curriculum.
• The school promotes kindness and resilience effectively.
• Strong safeguarding culture with effective procedures in place.
• Leaders prioritize staff well-being and support.

Areas for Improvement

• Some reading support for struggling pupils is not consistently effective.

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 Southwater Junior Academy attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.9% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Southwater Junior Academy 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 Southwater Junior Academy had 19.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.3% 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, 14.8% of pupils at Southwater Junior Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.8% 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 2024–25 Southwater Junior Academy received £5,829 and spent £5,398 for each of its 445 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £198,000 (£445 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Horsham · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

What is Southwater Junior Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Southwater Junior Academy is Good, from an inspection in July 2023.

When was Southwater Junior Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Southwater Junior Academy was last inspected in July 2023.

How many pupils does Southwater Junior Academy have?

Southwater Junior Academy has 445 pupils on roll.

What age range does Southwater Junior Academy cover?

Southwater Junior Academy for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are Southwater Junior Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Southwater Junior Academy?

Southwater Junior Academy is at Worthing Road, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 9JH.