Varndean School

General Info

Education Phase
Secondary
Ofsted rating
Good
Oct 6 2022 Ofsted report
Gender
Mixed
Age range
11 - 16 y.o.
Type
Local authority maintained schools
Funding
State-funded secondary
Admissions policy
Non-selective
Religious Character
Does not apply
Sixth Form
Does not have a sixth form
Local authority
Brighton and Hove
Unique reference
114579
Address
Balfour Road, BN1 6NP

Pupils

Number of Pupils
1490 (100% of total capacity)
Boys
47.2%
Girls
52.8%
First language not English
9.7%
Free school meals (FSM)
20.5%
Persistent absence
19.6%
Special education needs (SEN)
22.6%
Pupil ethnicities
White British 69.7%
Mixed 12.1%
Other White 8%
Other 1.7%
Unclassified 1.5%
Irish 1.3%
Other Asian 1.3%
Chinese 1.3%
Bangladeshi 0.9%
African 0.9%
Indian 0.8%
Irish Traveller 0.1%
Gypsy/Roma 0.1%
Other Black 0.1%
Capacity %: Year 2022-2023 Persistent absence and other Pupils data: Year 2023-2024

Exam Results

GCSE Results

Progress 8 score

This school
0.36
Local authority average, state-funded schools
0
England average, state-funded schools
-0.03

Entering EBacc

School 59%
Local authority average 51%
England average 39%

Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs

School 68%
Local authority average 50%
England average 45%

Attainment 8 score

School 54.5
Local authority average 47.8
England average 46.3

EBacc average point score

School 4.98
Local authority average 4.34
England average 4.05
Year 2022-2023

Subjects

GCSE Subjects

SubjectQualificationNumber of entries
Music Studies (General)Technical Award16
Dance: GeneralTechnical Award8
Health StudiesTechnical Award22
Small Business ManagementTechnical Award15
Additional Mathematics FSMQOther General Qualification (Level 3)22
ArabicGCSE1
Art & Design (Fine Art)GCSE2
Art & DesignGCSE77
AstronomyGCSE3
BiologyGCSE95
Year 2022-2023

Admissions

Varndean School

Admission Policy
Non-selective
Total available places
278
Status
Oversubscribed
This school is Oversubscribed because there were more 1st preference applications than available places.

Applications

1st preference
435
2nd preference
387
3rd preference
209
From another Local Authority
6
Breakdown of applications made to this school within the deadline (in-year applications are excluded)

Offers

1st preference
272
2nd preference
6
3rd preference
0
To another Local Authority
0
Breakdown of offers made on National Offer Day (in-year applications are excluded)
Year 2024-2025

Class sizes

Class typeClass size
Average size of one-teacher classes25.5
Year 2023-2024

Cohort sizes

Class type
Total
Boys
Girls
Year 7
298
142
156
Year 8
299
144
155
Year 9
302
142
160
Year 10
298
134
164
Year 11
293
141
152
Year 2023-2024

Participation in Education, Training, Employment

Destinations after GCSEs
School
LA
England
Staying in education
94.0%
89.4%
86.5%
Further education
14.0%
16.5%
34.7%
School sixth form
2.0%
15.4%
37.9%
Sixth form college
77.0%
56.5%
13.1%
Other education destinations
2.0%
1.1%
0.9%
Entering employment
1.0%
3.1%
3.9%
Entering apprenticeships
0.0%
1.9%
3.4%
Not in education or employment
4.0%
4.6%
5.2%
Destination unknown
SP
1.0%
1.0%
School: Year 2022-2023 Local authority: Year 2021-2022 England: Year 2021-2022