SCHOOL PROFILE

St Paul's Church of England Academy

Primary Academy converter URN 143034
Open
Pupils 8,834,192 Latest school census
Capacity 664 Published school capacity
Capacity used 95.5% Pupils as a share of capacity
Age range 2 – 11 Statutory age range
OFSTED

Latest ungraded inspection

12 June 2024
Latest published outcome School remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next
SCHOOL DETAILS

About this school

School type Academy converter
Phase Primary
Gender Mixed
Religious character Church of England
Local authority East Sussex
Trust DIOCESE OF CHICHESTER ACADEMY TRUST
Census date 15 January 2026
PUPIL PROFILE

School community

Latest published pupil characteristics for 2025/26.

2025/26
Total pupils 634 589 full-time · 45 part-time
Female pupils 293 46.2% of pupils
Male pupils 341 53.8% of pupils

Free school meals

Pupils eligible for free school meals.

32.5%
7.7 pts above England
School 32.5%
Hastings 36.2%
South East 19.0%
England 24.8%

English as an additional language

Pupils whose first language is not English.

18.8%
1.5 pts below England
School 18.8%
Hastings 11.9%
South East 15.6%
England 20.3%

Young carers

Pupils recorded as young carers.

0.0%
1.0 pts below England
School 0.0%
Hastings 0.5%
South East 1.7%
England 1.0%

Ethnicity

Largest recorded pupil groups.

White British
68.8%
436
Any other White background
8.4%
53
Any other Mixed background
6.0%
38
Any other Asian background
4.3%
27
African
2.4%
15
Bangladeshi
1.9%
12
Council, regional and national comparisons are pupil-weighted using published school census counts.
ADDITIONAL NEEDS

Special educational needs

Pupils receiving SEN support or with an education, health and care plan.

2025/26
Pupils with SEN 18.6% 118 of 634 pupils
2.2 pts below England England: 20.8%
School 18.6%
Hastings 24.0%
South East 21.1%
England 20.8%
SEN support 17.5% 111 pupils
England 14.8% 2.7 pts above
EHC plans 1.1% 7 pupils
England 6.0% 4.9 pts below
PRIMARY NEEDS

Most common identified needs

Pupils
Speech, language & communication 40
Autistic spectrum disorder 33
Social, emotional & mental health 27
No specialist assessment yet 14
Other difficulty or disability 2
Specific learning difficulty 2

SEN comparisons are pupil-weighted using published 2025/26 Department for Education school-level data. Primary needs combine pupils receiving SEN support and pupils with EHC plans.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Key stage 2 outcomes

Published Department for Education results for 2024/25.

2024/25
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading, writing & maths

72.0% 11.6 pts above England
School 72.0%
Hastings 56.1%
South East 60.1%
England 60.4%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading

84.0%

10.2 pts above England

School 84.0%
Hastings 67.9%
South East 74.0%
England 73.8%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Writing

79.0%

8.7 pts above England

School 79.0%
Hastings 66.6%
South East 70.5%
England 70.3%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Maths

80.0%

8.0 pts above England

School 80.0%
Hastings 65.6%
South East 70.9%
England 72.0%
School results show the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard. Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages and are not pupil-weighted official attainment rates.
ATTENDANCE & ABSENCE

Attendance profile

Published Department for Education absence data for 2024/25. Lower absence rates are generally better.

2024/25
ABSENCE RATE

Overall absence

5.94%

Percentage of possible sessions missed.

0.28 pts lower than England
School 5.94%
Hastings 8.66%
South East 6.30%
England 6.22%
ABSENCE RATE

Persistent absence

16.85%

Pupils missing 10% or more of sessions.

1.03 pts higher than England
School 16.85%
Hastings 22.84%
South East 15.75%
England 15.82%
ABSENCE RATE

Severe absence

1.09%

Pupils missing 50% or more of sessions.

0.72 pts lower than England
School 1.09%
Hastings 3.96%
South East 1.93%
England 1.80%
Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages rather than pupil-weighted official absence rates.
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

School context

Comparison with open primary schools.

CAPACITY

Capacity utilisation

95.5% 7.3 pts above England
St Paul's Church of England Academy
95.5%
Hastings
90.0%
South East
89.5%
England
88.2%
Benchmarks use open schools in the same phase. Capacity utilisation is calculated from published pupil and capacity figures.
Sources: Department for Education · Get Information about Schools · Ofsted monthly management information