Varndean School
Balfour Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 6NP ·
At a glance
A state secondary school for ages 11–16 in Brighton. Rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection (October 2022). GCSE results are around the England average (Attainment 8: 48.8 vs 46.1, 2024/25). Oversubscribed: 350 families put it first for 279 places (September 2026 entry).
- Ages
- 11–16
- Pupils
- 1,487
- Gender
- Mixed
- Sixth form
- No
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Local authority
- Brighton and Hove
- Headteacher
- Mrs Shelley Baker
Inspection
Ofsted (framework in use until November 2025)
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
Safeguarding effective: Yes
Exam results
Department for Education performance tables
GCSE results, 2024/25 · 299 pupils
Attainment 8 over time
Progress 8 isn't published for 2024/25 because those pupils had no KS2 test results (tests were cancelled in 2020). Exams were not held in 2019/20 or 2020/21.
Admissions
Demand for places and how places are allocated
Year 7 entry, September 2026 (national offer day data)
254 of 350 first-preference applicants were offered a place (73%). 1 offers went to families living in another council area.
Catchment area
We don't have an official catchment boundary for this school. Many schools don't have one, and few councils publish boundaries as open data. We don't estimate catchments. Check the school's admissions policy or the council's admissions booklet.
Last distance offered
Not published nationally. Many councils publish the furthest distance offered for each school in their annual allocation reports. Past distances vary year to year with demand and sibling numbers, so they are not a guarantee.
Pupils
School census 2024/25
- Eligible for free school meals (last 6 years)20.5%
- English as an additional language9.4%
- SEN support24.8%
- Education, Health and Care plan6.2%
- The black tick shows the median for state-funded secondary schools in England.