City Academy Whitehawk

City Academy Whitehawk is performing well overall, maintaining a good standard of education with remarkable strengths in behaviour, personal development, and leadership. The school's culture fosters a safe and inclusive environment where pupils feel valued and respected. Their efforts to support disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs reflect the school's commitment to high expectations and quality education. The curriculum is carefully planned, and recent adjustments have positively impacted current pupil achievement, although some gaps remain in mathematics achievement compared to expectations.

Strengths

• Outstanding behaviour and attitudes among pupils
• Exceptional personal development opportunities for students
• High-quality support for pupils with SEND
• Effective early years provision that prepares children well for future education
• Strong curriculum design that raises aspirations and broadens horizons
• Robust personal development curriculum focused on mental and physical health
• Great emphasis on literacy, with a systematic and inspirational reading curriculum

Areas for Improvement

• Mathematics achievement not yet fully meeting expectations at key stage 2

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 City Academy Whitehawk attended 92.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 27.1% 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, 5.8% of pupils at City Academy Whitehawk 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 City Academy Whitehawk had 16.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.2% 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, 21.4% of pupils at City Academy Whitehawk were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.3% 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 City Academy Whitehawk received £8,187 and spent £8,221 for each of its 371 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £204,000 (£549 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Aurora Academies Trust, income was £7,372 and spending £7,352 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

City Academy Whitehawk is part of Aurora Academies Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Oakwood Primary Academy Eastbourne
• Heron Park Primary Academy Eastbourne
• The Gatwick School Crawley
• Glenleigh Park Primary Academy Bexhill-On-Sea
• Westvale Park Primary Academy Horley
• King Offa Primary Academy Bexhill-On-Sea

What is City Academy Whitehawk's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for City Academy Whitehawk is Good, from an inspection in June 2024.

When was City Academy Whitehawk last inspected by Ofsted?

City Academy Whitehawk was last inspected in June 2024.

How many pupils does City Academy Whitehawk have?

City Academy Whitehawk has 323 pupils on roll.

What age range does City Academy Whitehawk cover?

City Academy Whitehawk for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are City Academy Whitehawk's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is City Academy Whitehawk?

City Academy Whitehawk is at Whitehawk Road, Whitehawk, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 5FL.