Portslade Aldridge Community Academy

Portslade Aldridge Community Academy is performing well overall, maintaining a strong standard, particularly in the areas of inclusion and safeguarding. The leadership has fostered an environment where special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils are well supported and integrated into school life. While the curriculum is ambitious and caters to a wide range of needs, there are some concerns regarding attendance rates, which have been historically low, affecting overall pupil achievement. Leaders have made positive strides in this area, but continued focus is necessary for upward trends to be stabilized.

Strengths

• Inclusion is at the heart of the school's operations, effectively addressing the needs of all pupils.
• High expectations are set by leaders, resulting in good academic progress for many students.
• The curriculum is well-designed and ambitious, ensuring that pupils gain necessary knowledge and skills.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with a strong culture of safety and support.
• Strong support for both pupils' personal development and wellbeing, with effective pastoral care.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' rates of attendance have been relatively low and require urgent improvement.
• The consistency and effectiveness of teaching could be strengthened to ensure that all pupils secure their understanding before moving on.

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 Portslade Aldridge Community Academy attended 88.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 28.2% 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, 3.1% of pupils at Portslade Aldridge Community Academy 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 Portslade Aldridge Community Academy had 16.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.8% 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, 21.2% of pupils at Portslade Aldridge Community Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.9% 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 2024–25 Portslade Aldridge Community Academy received £9,026 and spent £8,845 for each of its 933 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £837,000 (£897 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Aldridge Education, income was £9,171 and spending £8,780 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 Brighton · Brighton and Hove local authority: places and applications

Portslade Aldridge Community Academy is part of Aldridge Education, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Brighton Aldridge Community Academy Brighton
• Duke's Aldridge London
• AldridgeUTC@MediaCityUK Salford
• Aldridge UTC Warrington Warrington
• Darwen Aldridge Community Academy Darwen
• Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary Darwen
• Aldridge UTC Darwen Darwen
• Darwen Vale High School Darwen

What is Portslade Aldridge Community Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Portslade Aldridge Community Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in March 2026.

When was Portslade Aldridge Community Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Portslade Aldridge Community Academy was last inspected in March 2026.

How many pupils does Portslade Aldridge Community Academy have?

Portslade Aldridge Community Academy has 910 pupils on roll.

What age range does Portslade Aldridge Community Academy cover?

Portslade Aldridge Community Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Portslade Aldridge Community Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.1, and 46% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Portslade Aldridge Community Academy?

Portslade Aldridge Community Academy is at Chalky Road, Portslade, Brighton, East Sussex, BN41 2WS.