Bexhill High Academy

Bexhill High Academy is a secondary comprehensive school within the Attwood Academy Trust. It was previously judged to require improvement, but this inspection found the school to be good in all four key judgements: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Pupils are proud of their school, behave well, feel safe, and benefit from a broad curriculum, strong personal development, and improving achievement, including for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. The school has made significant improvements since the previous inspection. Leaders and trustees have an accurate view of strengths and weaknesses, staff feel supported, and the curriculum has been reorganized so that pupils learn in a more logical order. Reading support, SEND provision, attendance work, and safeguarding are effective. The specially resourced SEND provision, the LINK, supports pupils with autism well. The main area for improvement is consistency in teaching. Sometimes teachers move on too quickly before pupils' understanding is secure, which can leave gaps in knowledge and limit achievement. Leaders need to ensure all teachers consistently follow agreed procedures for adapting learning and checking pupils' understanding.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud to be part of the school and value the support they receive.
• Pupils typically behave very well in lessons and around the school.
• Bullying is rare and pupils are confident it will be dealt with effectively.
• The curriculum is broad, balanced, and includes an above-average EBacc uptake.
• Current pupils are achieving better because the curriculum is better organized.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are increasingly achieving well.
• Reading support, including phonics where needed, helps pupils access the curriculum.
• The school identifies and supports pupils with SEND effectively, including through the LINK resource base.
• Personal development is strong, with well-organized careers education and safety education.
• Leaders and trustees accurately identify strengths and weaknesses and have secure improvement plans.
• Staff feel well supported with workload and well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Sometimes teaching moves on too quickly before pupils' understanding is secure.
• Pupils can have gaps in knowledge and underachieve when checking of understanding is inconsistent.
• Not all teachers consistently follow the school's agreed procedures for adapting learning and checking understanding.

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 Bexhill High Academy attended 91.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.2% 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, 8.8% of pupils at Bexhill High Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 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 Bexhill High Academy had 17.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 22.0% 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, 22.3% of pupils at Bexhill High Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has a SEN unit with 3 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 Bexhill High Academy received £8,118 and spent £7,891 for each of its 1,454 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,252,000 (£861 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of Mulberry Schools Trust, income was £9,786 and spending £9,651 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 Bexhill-On-Sea · East Sussex local authority: places and applications

Bexhill High Academy is part of Mulberry Schools Trust, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• Mulberry Academy St Leonards St Leonards-On-Sea
• Mulberry West St Leonards Primary St Leonards-On-Sea
• Mulberry Silverdale Primary St Leonards-On-Sea
• Mulberry Baird Primary Hastings
• Mulberry Academy Hastings Hastings
• Mulberry Wood Wharf Primary School London
• Mulberry Academy London Dock London
• Mulberry Stepney Green Mathematics and Computing College London
• Mulberry School for Girls London
• Mulberry Canon Barnett Primary Academy London

What is Bexhill High Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bexhill High Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Bexhill High Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Bexhill High Academy was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Bexhill High Academy have?

Bexhill High Academy has 1,441 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bexhill High Academy cover?

Bexhill High Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Bexhill High Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.7, and 51% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Bexhill High Academy?

Bexhill High Academy is at Gunters Lane, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN39 4BY.