St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy

St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy is a larger-than-average church school within the Diocese of Chichester Trust, with above-average levels of disadvantage and a well-established inclusive ethos. Inspectors found it performing securely overall: pupils typically achieve well, including disadvantaged pupils, who outperform disadvantaged pupils nationally by the end of Year 6, and pupils with SEND make expected progress. The curriculum is well considered and sequenced from early years to Year 6, teaching is generally strong, and early years provision is effective and well resourced. Personal development and well-being are well designed, behaviour is good, and pupils feel safe and proud of their school. Leadership and governance are effective, staff are well supported, and trust and local governance arrangements are secure. Safeguarding standards are met. The main areas for improvement are attendance and writing accuracy. Attendance is not high enough, persistent absence is above national averages, and pupils with SEND are particularly affected. Some pupils' handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar are less secure, and the teaching of these aspects is not consistently effective. Leaders know these priorities and have begun work to address them.

Strengths

• Pupils typically achieve well, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• The curriculum is well considered, logically sequenced and adapted to the school's context.
• Teaching is generally effective, with secure subject knowledge and good use of assessment to address gaps.
• Early years provision is safe, well resourced and tailored to children's needs.
• The school is inclusive and uses additional funding well to support vulnerable pupils.
• Personal development and well-being are well designed, with a broad enrichment offer.
• Pupils behave well, feel safe and have positive relationships with staff and each other.
• Leadership and governance are effective, with strong staff support and trust input.
• Safeguarding standards are met.

Areas for Improvement

• Attendance is not high enough and persistent absence is above national averages.
• Pupils with SEND are particularly likely to miss too much school.
• Handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar are less secure for some pupils.
• The teaching of handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar is not consistently effective.
• Leaders' work to improve attendance has not yet had sufficiently widespread impact.

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 St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.3% 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, 1.7% of pupils at St Leonards Church of England Primary 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 St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy had 21.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.9% 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, 12.5% of pupils at St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.0% 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 St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy received £6,832 and spent £6,748 for each of its 412 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £216,000 (£524 per pupil).

Across all 28 schools of Diocese of Chichester Academy Trust, income was £7,049 and spending £7,093 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 St Leonards-On-Sea · East Sussex local authority: places and applications

St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy is part of Diocese of Chichester Academy Trust, which runs 28 schools. The nearest others:

• Christ Church CofE Primary and Nursery Academy Hastings
• St Paul's Church of England Academy St Leonards-On-Sea
• Dudley Infant Academy Hastings
• All Saints CofE Junior Academy Hastings
• Chantry Community Primary School Bexhill-On-Sea
• Little Common School Bexhill-On-Sea
• Sedlescombe Church of England Primary School Battle
• Ninfield Church of England Primary School Battle
• Northiam Church of England Primary School and Nursery Rye
• St Catherine's College Eastbourne

What is St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy have?

St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy has 400 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy cover?

St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy?

St Leonards Church of England Primary Academy is at Collinswood Drive, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN38 0NX.