High Cliff Academy

Lewes · BN9 9FD

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 154 pupils, 37% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 18.8% on SEN support Behaviour 7.2% absence rate Staff 27% turnover Financials £4,509 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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High Cliff Academy

General Information

Address: Southdown Road, Newhaven, BN9 9FD – View on map
Phone: 01273041471
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Ms Megan West
Age range: 4-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 11 families put it first for 22 places – 5 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 8 · 2024 8 · 2025 8 · 2026 5
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

154 pupils out of 210 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 57
% eligible for free school meals: 37.0%
Pupil mix: 4 in 10 (more mixed than the Lewes average)
English as an additional language: 10% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 27% a year (Lewes 18.6%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 38% moved to another school, 62% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across East Sussex: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 7 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in East Sussex (the council area this school is in), not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 7.2%
Persistently absent pupils: 17.3%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 18.8%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.2%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 13 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 7 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Vision impairment: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 3 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card June 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Outstanding (2023). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 76% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 13 percentage points above the Lewes average (64%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 63% against an expected 59%)
3-year average (expected standard): 63%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 79% · Writing 76% · Maths 83% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 76%
Average test scores: reading 104, maths 107
Based on: 29 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolLewes averageEngland↗ Improving Up 23 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 13 percentage points above the Lewes average (64%).

Year 6 SATs: 4th of 24 junior and primary schools in the area

=1Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School81%
#3Peacehaven Heights Academy79%
#4High Cliff Academy76%
#5Harbour Primary and Nursery School74%
#6Seaford Primary School72%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

=1Breakwater Academy81%
=1Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School81%
#3Peacehaven Heights Academy79%
#4High Cliff Academy76%
#5Harbour Primary and Nursery School74%
#6Seaford Primary School72%
=7Hamsey Community Primary School70%
=7Western Road Community Primary School70%
=9Annecy Catholic Primary School69%
=9Cradle Hill Community Primary School69%
=9Wivelsfield Primary School and Nursery69%
=12Newick Church of England Primary School67%
=12South Malling CofE Primary and Nursery School67%
#14Chyngton School65%
#15Telscombe Cliffs Academy62%
#16Southover CofE Primary School60%
#17Iford and Kingston Church of England Primary School58%
#18Wallands Community Primary and Nursery School53%
#19Denton Community Primary School and Nursery52%
#20Plumpton Primary School50%
#21Barcombe Church of England Primary School44%
#22Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery31%
#23Chailey St Peter's Church of England Primary School27%
#24Firle Church of England Primary School14%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £4,509 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

20th of 22 primary schools in Lewes for spending per pupil

#18Annecy Catholic Primary School£5,815
#19Seaford Primary School£5,629
#20High Cliff Academy£4,509
#21Breakwater Academy£4,436
#22Ringmer Primary and Nursery School£3,208

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Firle Church of England Primary School£11,733
#2Chailey St Peter's Church of England Primary School£8,960
#3Denton Community Primary School and Nursery£8,643
#4Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery£8,171
#5Peacehaven Heights Academy£7,820
#6Telscombe Cliffs Academy£7,629
#7Harbour Primary and Nursery School£7,283
#8Wallands Community Primary and Nursery School£7,278
#9Southover CofE Primary School£7,048
#10Plumpton Primary School£7,011
#11Chyngton School£6,910
#12South Malling CofE Primary and Nursery School£6,896
#13Wivelsfield Primary School and Nursery£6,405
#14Newick Church of England Primary School£6,191
#15Cradle Hill Community Primary School£6,145
#16Western Road Community Primary School£6,124
#17Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School£5,943
#18Annecy Catholic Primary School£5,815
#19Seaford Primary School£5,629
#20High Cliff Academy£4,509
#21Breakwater Academy£4,436
#22Ringmer Primary and Nursery School£3,208

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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