Ofsted: Outstanding trending_up Places Available emoji_events #8 in East Sussex public Top 20% UK

High Cliff Academy

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMiss Carla Botting

corporate_fareSTEP ACADEMY TRUST

location_onNewhaven, BN9 9FD

language Visit Website phone 1273041471

verified

Ofsted

Outstanding

Inspected 2018

groups

Students

232

school

Expected Standard

76%

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Demand Ratio

0.8x

summarize

High Cliff Academy is a Academy sponsor led primary school in Newhaven, serving ages 4-11. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted — the highest possible grade. Ranks in the top 20% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

High Cliff Academy is an academy sponsor led in Newhaven, East Sussex, admitting pupils aged 4-11. It is part of STEP ACADEMY TRUST. The school has approximately 162 pupils on roll, of whom 36% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 76% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined. The school ranks #8 of 129 primaries in East Sussex and #1,445 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2018. The school's current overall rating is Outstanding.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 0.8× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 16.5:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.3 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

76%

LA 58%

Reading79% LA 72%

Writing76% LA 69%

Maths83% LA 68%

Read SS

104

Maths SS

107

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

70%

LA 56%England 61%

Reading78% LA 71% · Eng 74%

Writing70% LA 69% · Eng 72%

Maths70% LA 68% · Eng 73%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

102

GPS SS

107

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

53%

LA 55%England 60%

Reading62% LA 70% · Eng 73%

Writing71% LA 68% · Eng 71%

Maths65% LA 66% · Eng 73%

Read SS

102

Maths SS

102

GPS SS

102

Progress (0 = national avg)

-3.4

Read

LA -0.9

-5.1 to -1.7

-0.7

Write

LA -1.5

-2.3 to 0.9

-2.5

Maths

LA -2.0

-4.1 to -0.9

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

LA 63%England 65%

Reading-% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing-% LA 78% · Eng 78%

Maths-% LA 74% · Eng 79%

Read SS

Maths SS

GPS SS

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

LA -0.4

Write

LA -0.7

Maths

LA -1.2

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

LA 65%

Reading-% LA 77%

Writing-% LA 79%

Maths-% LA 74%

Read SS

Maths SS

GPS SS

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

LA 0.5

Write

LA -0.3

Maths

LA -0.4

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

21 November 2023

Inspection Report

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05 June 2018

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

1 Evaluations

2018-06-05

Academy First Section 5 Legacy

Outstanding

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Outstanding

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.6%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.6%(1 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 162 pupils. During this period, there were 1 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.6%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg	Perm. Excl.
2024/25 (Spring term)	162	1	0.6%	0.8%	0
2024/25 (Autumn term)	163	0	0.0%	0.9%	0
2023/24 (Summer term)	185	9	4.9%	0.8%	1
2023/24 (Spring term)	187	19	10.2%	0.7%	0
2023/24 (Autumn term)	185	14	7.6%	0.8%	0
2022/23 (Summer term)	233	12	5.2%	0.7%	0
2022/23 (Spring term)	232	7	3.0%	0.6%	0
2022/23 (Autumn term)	224	11	4.9%	0.6%	0
2021/22 (Summer term)	248	11	4.4%	0.5%	1
2021/22 (Spring term)	250	15	6.0%	0.5%	0
2021/22 (Autumn term)	245	0	0.0%	0.5%	0
2020/21 (Summer term)	222	5	2.3%	0.4%	0
2020/21 (Spring term)	213	7	3.3%	0.1%	0
2020/21 (Autumn term)	210	2	1.0%	0.4%	0
2019/20 (Summer term)	185	0	0.0%	0.0%	0
2019/20 (Spring term)	185	5	2.7%	0.4%	0
2019/20 (Autumn term)	178	4	2.2%	0.6%	0
2018/19 (Summer term)	162	3	1.9%	0.4%	0
2018/19 (Spring term)	161	2	1.2%	0.5%	0
2018/19 (Autumn term)	153	0	0.0%	0.5%	0
2017/18 (Summer term)	116	0	0.0%	0.5%	0
2017/18 (Spring term)	115	0	0.0%	0.4%	0
2017/18 (Autumn term)	110	0	0.0%	0.5%	0
2016/17 (Summer term)	86	0	0.0%	0.4%	0
2016/17 (Spring term)	83	0	0.0%	0.4%	0
2016/17 (Autumn term)	78	0	0.0%	0.5%	0

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Speech, Language & Communication 24 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 10 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 4 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 2 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 1 pupils

Visual Impairment 1 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 1 pupils

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High Cliff Academy

School Summary

Academic Performance

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Inspection History

Admissions Insight

How Places Are Allocated

Distance to School

School Capacity

Primary Admission Trends

Students & School Environment

School Size

Language Diversity

Inclusive Support

Attendance

Ethnicity Breakdown

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Funding & Staffing

School Funding Allocation

Funding Breakdown

Staffing

Teacher Turnover

Top Primary Schools in East Sussex

Breakwater Academy

Sandown Primary School and Nursery

Ark Blacklands Primary Academy

Pevensey and Westham CofE Primary School

Peacehaven Heights Academy

St Peter and St Paul CofE Primary School