Warden Park Secondary Academy

Warden Park Secondary Academy is a large, well-regarded secondary school within Sussex Learning Trust that is performing strongly across most areas of its provision. Inspectors found a school with a clear, ambitious vision, high expectations, and a culture in which pupils feel safe, valued and well cared for. Attendance and behaviour were highlighted as particular strengths, with leaders' determined work leading to rapid improvements, including attendance for pupils with SEND that now exceeds the national average, and suspensions well below national figures. The school's personal development and wellbeing programme was described as a notable strength, providing pupils with extensive enrichment opportunities and highly effective careers guidance. The curriculum is broad, ambitious and well taught, and outcomes at the end of key stage 4 are consistently above national averages. Pupils with SEND achieve well from their starting points, including those in the specially resourced provision, and disadvantaged pupils' outcomes are close to the national average with gaps closing quickly. Leadership and governance are strong, with trustees and trust leaders providing effective support and challenge, and staff reporting positive working conditions. Safeguarding standards are met. The main area for development is assessment practice: while teachers regularly check pupils' understanding, these checks are not always used precisely enough to identify misconceptions and adapt teaching, meaning some pupils do not receive the specific next steps needed to improve. Leaders are also asked to continue embedding consistent teaching approaches and to sustain the effectiveness of the personal development programme so that it drives transformational impact for all groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils whose progress remains an area of focus.

Strengths

• Determined leadership has driven rapid and sustained improvements in attendance, with some pupil groups now exceeding the national average.
• A strong culture of high expectations underpins excellent behaviour; pupils are polite, respectful and attentive, and bullying is rare.
• The personal development and wellbeing programme is a notable strength, with extensive enrichment and highly effective pastoral support.
• Pupils with SEND, including those in the specially resourced provision, benefit from expert support and access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.
• Outcomes at the end of key stage 4 are consistently above national averages in attainment and progress.
• Leaders and governors provide clear strategic direction, and staff feel well supported with manageable workloads.
• The school has an extensive, high-quality careers programme that prepares pupils well for positive destinations.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture in which pupils feel safe.

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not always use assessment checks precisely enough to identify pupils' misconceptions and adapt teaching, meaning some pupils do not receive specific next steps to improve their work.
• Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils remain an area requiring further development, with progress measures below national averages.

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 Warden Park Secondary Academy attended 92.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 20.4% 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, 2.2% of pupils at Warden Park Secondary 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 Warden Park Secondary Academy had 16.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.2% 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, 15.8% of pupils at Warden Park Secondary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has a SEN unit with 27 pupils and resourced provision with 296 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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Warden Park Secondary Academy received £7,557 and spent £7,843 for each of its 1,538 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £212,000 (£138 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Sussex Learning Trust, income was £7,040 and spending £7,119 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 Haywards Heath · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

Warden Park Secondary Academy is part of Sussex Learning Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Warden Park Primary Academy Haywards Heath
• Northlands Wood Primary Academy Haywards Heath
• The Burgess Hill Academy Burgess Hill
• Woodgate Primary Academy Crawley
• Billingshurst Primary Academy Billingshurst
• Chichester Free School Chichester

What is Warden Park Secondary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Warden Park Secondary Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Warden Park Secondary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Warden Park Secondary Academy was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Warden Park Secondary Academy have?

Warden Park Secondary Academy has 1,541 pupils on roll.

What age range does Warden Park Secondary Academy cover?

Warden Park Secondary Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Warden Park Secondary Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 55.0, and 60% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Warden Park Secondary Academy?

Warden Park Secondary Academy is at Broad Street, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 5DP.