Brighton Hill Community School

Brighton Hill Community School is a large and growing secondary school within the South Farnham Educational Trust. Inspectors found a school with a strong and inclusive culture: attendance is rising and above national, persistent absence has fallen significantly, behaviour is positive, and suspensions are well below national levels. Inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing are particular strengths, with pupils benefiting from strong pastoral care, enrichment, careers guidance and community projects. Safeguarding standards are met. However, achievement and curriculum and teaching are not yet at the same level. Pupils generally achieve well, and disadvantaged pupils’ attainment is improving with gaps closing, but disadvantaged pupils’ Progress 8 was below national in 2023/24. Teaching is not consistently strong across all subjects, assessment is sometimes not precise enough to address misconceptions, and a few pupils needing extra literacy support are not achieving as well as they could. Some parents are frustrated with the school’s communication, and trust and school leaders are taking steps to improve this. The main next step is for leaders to continue improving teaching quality in all subjects so that all pupils, including those with barriers to learning, achieve consistently well. The inspection was paused and resumed to gather additional evidence, and the school currently uses five alternative provisions, including two that are unregistered.

Strengths

• Attendance is rising and above national averages, including for pupils with SEND.
• Persistent absence has fallen significantly and is below national levels.
• Pupils behave well, show respect and learn in calm, purposeful lessons.
• Suspensions are significantly lower than national secondary averages.
• Inclusion is central to leaders’ decisions and evident in daily practice.
• Staff use training and pupil passports to provide consistent support.
• Additional funding is used expertly to help disadvantaged pupils overcome barriers.
• Leadership and governance are reflective, ambitious and focused on pupil needs.
• Staff wellbeing and professional development are given high priority.
• The personal development programme builds confidence, resilience and independence.
• The 'Greatest Of All The Boys' project boosts boys’ self-esteem and community links.
• Careers provision is ambitious and helps high proportions of pupils continue in education, employment or training.
• Pupils benefit from clubs, visits and enrichment activities, including disadvantaged pupils.
• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe and supported.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is not yet consistently strong across all areas.
• Curriculum and teaching are not yet at the strongest standard in all subjects.
• Teaching quality and the 'Hallmarks of Success' are not engrained in every subject.
• Assessment sometimes lacks precision to adapt teaching to pupils’ misconceptions.
• A few pupils needing extra reading and writing support do not achieve as well as they could.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ Progress 8 was below national in 2023/24, and the disadvantage gap remains notable.
• Some parents are frustrated with how the school communicates with them.
• Leaders need to continue improving teaching so all pupils, including those with barriers to learning, achieve consistently well.

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 Brighton Hill Community School attended 92.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 17.1% 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, 1.8% of pupils at Brighton Hill Community School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 Brighton Hill Community School had 16.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.5% 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, 14.3% of pupils at Brighton Hill Community School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 Brighton Hill Community School received £7,391 and spent £7,011 for each of its 1,285 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,503,000 (£1,169 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of South Farnham Educational Trust, income was £7,672 and spending £7,384 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 Basingstoke · Hampshire local authority: places and applications

Brighton Hill Community School is part of South Farnham Educational Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• The Blue Coat School Basingstoke Basingstoke
• Kings Furlong Infant School and Nursery Basingstoke
• The Priory Primary School Tadley
• Highfield South Farnham School Farnham
• South Farnham School Farnham
• Normandy Village School Guildford
• Wood Street Infant School and Nursery Guildford
• Worplesdon Primary School Guildford
• Busbridge Infant School Godalming
• The Raleigh School Leatherhead

What is Brighton Hill Community School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Brighton Hill Community School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Brighton Hill Community School last inspected by Ofsted?

Brighton Hill Community School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Brighton Hill Community School have?

Brighton Hill Community School has 1,284 pupils on roll.

What age range does Brighton Hill Community School cover?

Brighton Hill Community School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Brighton Hill Community School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.2, and 45% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Brighton Hill Community School?

Brighton Hill Community School is at Brighton Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG22 4HS.