Ofsted: Good trending_up Places Available emoji_events #9 in East Sussex public Top 16% UK

Ark Castledown Primary Academy

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

personMiss Rebecca Stewart

corporate_fareARK SCHOOLS

location_onHastings, TN34 3QT

language Visit Website phone 1424444046

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2021

groups

Students

387

school

Expected Standard

78%

local_fire_department

Demand Ratio

1.0x

summarize

Ark Castledown Primary Academy is a Academy sponsor led primary school in Hastings, serving ages 2-11. Rated Good by Ofsted. Ranks in the top 16% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

Ark Castledown Primary Academy is an academy sponsor led in Hastings, East Sussex, admitting pupils aged 2-11. It is part of ARK SCHOOLS. The school has approximately 396 pupils on roll, of whom 58% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 78% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 8% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #9 of 129 primaries in East Sussex and #1,747 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2021. The school's current overall rating is Good. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Good, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Outstanding.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 1.0× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 26.2:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.0 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

78%

LA 58%

Reading80% LA 72%

Writing84% LA 69%

Maths82% LA 68%

Read SS

104

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

103

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

75%

LA 56%England 61%

Reading80% LA 71% · Eng 74%

Writing88% LA 69% · Eng 72%

Maths82% LA 68% · Eng 73%

Read SS

106

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

102

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

75%

LA 55%England 60%

Reading76% LA 70% · Eng 73%

Writing82% LA 68% · Eng 71%

Maths78% LA 66% · Eng 73%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

103

GPS SS

101

Progress (0 = national avg)

-2.2

Read

LA -0.9

-3.9 to -0.5

-1.8

Write

LA -1.5

-3.4 to -0.2

-2.5

Maths

LA -2.0

-4.1 to -0.9

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

73%

LA 63%England 65%

Reading75% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing88% LA 78% · Eng 78%

Maths85% LA 74% · Eng 79%

Read SS

103

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

101

Progress (0 = national avg)

0.9

Read

LA -0.4

-0.7 to 2.6

1.8

Write

LA -0.7

0.3 to 3.3

1.6

Maths

LA -1.2

0.1 to 3.0

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

73%

LA 65%

Reading84% LA 77%

Writing86% LA 79%

Maths80% LA 74%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

102

Progress (0 = national avg)

2.4

Read

LA 0.5

0.6 to 4.2

0.6

Write

LA -0.3

-1.1 to 2.3

2.7

Maths

LA -0.4

1.1 to 4.3

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

23 November 2021

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2021-11-23

Academy First Section 5 EIF

Good

Education

Good

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Outstanding

2013-09-19

S5 Inspection EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

2011-11-09

None EIF

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

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

0.0%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

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

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.0%(0 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 396 pupils. During this period, there were 0 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.0%, 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)	396	0	0.0%	0.8%	0
2024/25 (Autumn term)	387	0	0.0%	0.9%	0
2023/24 (Summer term)	420	0	0.0%	0.8%	0
2023/24 (Spring term)	415	6	1.4%	0.7%	0
2023/24 (Autumn term)	394	6	1.5%	0.8%	0
2022/23 (Summer term)	396	2	0.5%	0.7%	0
2022/23 (Spring term)	387	1	0.3%	0.6%	0
2022/23 (Autumn term)	379	2	0.5%	0.6%	0
2021/22 (Summer term)	380	4	1.1%	0.5%	0
2021/22 (Spring term)	363	1	0.3%	0.5%	0
2021/22 (Autumn term)	356	1	0.3%	0.5%	0
2020/21 (Summer term)	375	4	1.1%	0.4%	0
2020/21 (Spring term)	366	0	0.0%	0.1%	0
2020/21 (Autumn term)	357	1	0.3%	0.4%	0
2019/20 (Summer term)	361	0	0.0%	0.0%	0
2019/20 (Spring term)	361	9	2.5%	0.4%	0
2019/20 (Autumn term)	371	10	2.7%	0.6%	0
2018/19 (Summer term)	396	8	2.0%	0.4%	0
2018/19 (Spring term)	393	9	2.3%	0.5%	1
2018/19 (Autumn term)	394	4	1.0%	0.5%	0
2017/18 (Summer term)	419	7	1.7%	0.5%	0
2017/18 (Spring term)	426	6	1.4%	0.4%	0
2017/18 (Autumn term)	416	3	0.7%	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 44 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 20 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 13 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 6 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 3 pupils

Physical Disability 3 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 2 pupils

Severe Learning Difficulty 1 pupils

Profound & Multiple Learning 1 pupils