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Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School

Primary Ages 2-11 243 pupils Ditchling
Ofsted: Good
All schools in Lewes

Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School is an academy converter in Lewes for pupils aged 2 to 11. It has a Church of England religious character. It has 243 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in December 2017 of its predecessor, Ditchling (St Margaret's) Church of England Primary School. In 2025, 81% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. Teacher turnover is high, with about 39% of its teachers gone within a year (in 2023/24; nationally, 17%).

Ofsted inspection: April 2025. KS2 results: 2025.

Type Primary / Academy converter
Age Range 2-11
Religion Church of England
Address Lewes Road
Ditchling
East Sussex
BN6 8TU
Phone 01273844130
Reference Number 148917

General Makeup

Number of pupils 243
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 45.68%
Girls: 54.32%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 6.1%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 5.8%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 30.6
Average size of Key Stage 1 classes taught by one teacher 30
Average size of Key Stage 2 classes taught by one teacher 31

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
1 12 18 30
2 12 18 30
3 12 18 30
4 15 17 32
5 14 16 30
6 17 15 32

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 82.7%
White, Other 7%
Mixed, Other 5.3%
White & Black (African) 3.3%
White & Asian 0.8%
Irish 0.8%

This school has not been graded since it changed URN, usually on converting to an academy. The rating shown is from its predecessor, Ditchling (St Margaret's) Church of England Primary School, inspected in December 2017.

Overall Ofsted Rating Good
Last Report Date 11 Mar 2025 – no overall grade published for this inspection
Date Report
11 Mar 2025 School inspection
28 Jun 2022 Academy conversion letter
05 Dec 2017 Full inspection:
Previously as Ditchling (St Margaret's) Church of England Primary School
03 Jul 2013 Full inspection:
23 Mar 2010 Full inspection:
10 Jan 2007 Full inspection:
10 Jun 2002 Full inspection

How many students meet the standards

Reading, Writing & Maths School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Pupils meeting the expected standard 81%
Pupils meeting a higher standard 19%

Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Subject School Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 110
Maths 109

Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 1.5
Writing 2.1
Maths -0.2

How many students meet the standards

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Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

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Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

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Reception admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 33 3
Third Preference 17 0
From another Local Authority 54 14

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School had 201 pupils for 168 places. That is 33 more pupils than the school has room for.

Pupils and places

Reception intake in the “Lewes District - Other Primary” planning area

East Sussex counted 185 Reception pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 190 in 2029–30, up 3%.

2022202320242025
Places 168168168168
Pupils 169158172201
Unfilled 0.0%6.0%0.0%0.0%

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 Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.6% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

202320242025
Authorised absence 3.6%3.8%3.7%
Unauthorised absence 0.7%0.7%1.0%
Severely absent pupils 0.0%1.4%0.6%

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, 0.0% of pupils at Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 1.10.50.0
Permanent exclusions 000

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 Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School had 22.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

2023202420252026
Pupils per adult 12.110.914.911.6
Teachers who left state teaching 0.0%24.4%0.0%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 40.0%12.5%41.7%–
Sick days per teacher 2.20.31.6–

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, 13.2% of pupils at Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Specific learning difficulty 12 0
Autistic spectrum disorder 7 1
Speech, language and communication needs 6 1
Social, emotional and mental health 4 1
Physical disability 2 0
Moderate learning difficulty 1 0

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 Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School received £5,753 and spent £6,244 for each of its 212 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £33,000 (£158 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of Hurst Education Trust Limited, income was £5,584 and spending £5,780 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

202320242025
Revenue reserve £119,000£134,000£33,000
per pupil £679£729£158
In-year balance -£2,000£18,000-£104,000
per pupil -£11£100-£491

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.

Name Distance
The Windmills Junior School
Dale Avenue, Hassocks, West Sussex, BN6 8LS
1.13 miles
Hassocks Infant School
Chancellors Park, Hassocks, West Sussex, BN6 8EY
1.38 miles
Birchwood Grove Community Primary School, Burgess Hill
Birchwood Grove Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 0DP
2.17 miles
London Meed Community Primary School
Chanctonbury Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9YQ
2.29 miles
Plumpton Primary School
Southdowns, Plumpton Green, Near Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 3EB
2.44 miles
St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School
School Close, Queen Elizabeth Avenue, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9RJ
2.71 miles
Oak Tree Primary School
Junction Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 0PZ
3.09 miles
St Lawrence CofE Primary School
Trinity Road, Hurstpierpoint, Hassocks, West Sussex, BN6 9UY
3.13 miles
The Gattons Infant School
Royal George Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9SL
3.14 miles
Southway Junior School
Southway, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9SU
3.2 miles
Sheddingdean Community Primary School
Petworth Drive, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 8JT
3.28 miles
Wivelsfield Primary School and Nursery
South Road, Wivelsfield Green, East Sussex, RH17 7QN
3.38 miles
Coldean Primary School
Kenwards, Coldean, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 9EN
3.8 miles
Carden Nursery and Primary School
County Oak Avenue, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 8LU
3.95 miles
Patcham Junior School
Ladies Mile Road, Patcham, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 8TA
4.1 miles
Albourne Church of England Primary School
The Street, Albourne, Hassocks, West Sussex, BN6 9DH
4.18 miles
Patcham Infant School
Highview Avenue South, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 8WW
4.3 miles
Hamsey Community Primary School
Cooksbridge, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 4SJ
4.63 miles
Westdene Primary School
Bankside, Westdene, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 5GN
4.69 miles
Moulsecoomb Primary School
The Highway, Moulsecoomb, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 4PA
4.76 miles
Name Distance
Downlands Community School
Dale Avenue, Hassocks, West Sussex, BN6 8LP
1.2 miles
Plumpton College
Ditchling Road, Plumpton, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 3AE
2.12 miles
Burgess Hill Girls
Keymer Road, Burgess Hill, RH15 0EG
2.28 miles
Woodlands Meed
Chanctonbury Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9EY
2.37 miles
The Burgess Hill Academy
Station Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9EA
2.45 miles
Hurstpierpoint College
College Lane, Hassocks, BN6 9JS
2.85 miles
Hambrook School
Marle Place, Leylands Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 8HY
3.08 miles
St Paul's Catholic College
Jane Murray Way, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 8GA
3.75 miles
Chailey School
Mill Lane, South Chailey, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 4PU
3.93 miles
Patcham High School
Ladies Mile Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 8PB
4.19 miles
Brighton Aldridge Community Academy
Lewes Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 9PW
4.33 miles
LVS Hassocks
London Road, Sayers Common, Hassocks, West Sussex, BN6 9HT
4.56 miles
Varndean College
Surrenden Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 6WQ
4.89 miles
Varndean School
Balfour Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 6NP
4.91 miles

All schools in Lewes · East Sussex local authority: places and applications

Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School is part of Hurst Education Trust Limited, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

What is Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in December 2017 of its predecessor, Ditchling (St Margaret's) Church of England Primary School.

When was Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School have?

Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School has 243 pupils on roll.

What age range does Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School cover?

Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 81% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School?

Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School is at Lewes Road, Ditchling, East Sussex, BN6 8TU.

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