Varndean School
Secondary · Community school · Ages 11–16 · Brighton, Brighton and Hove
Last distance offered · Year 7 2025
Every applicant was offered a place
From Brighton & Hove City Council · offers on 3 March 2025
Unlock every school · £9.99 Open on the map →Varndean School is a secondary school in Brighton, Brighton and Hove for ages 11–16 (community school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is Good, from the inspection on 5 October 2022. Brighton and Hove has published a last distance offered for this school for Year 7 2018 to 2025 entry.
Varndean School catchment area: last distance offered
Parents often call this the catchment area: it's how far from the school the last child offered a place lived. It changes every year.
| Entry | Last distance offered |
|---|---|
| Year 7 2025 | Every applicant was offered a place |
| Year 7 2024 | Not published |
| Year 7 2023 | Not published |
| Year 7 2022 | Not published |
| Year 7 2018 | Not published |
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- Year 7 2026 had 350 first-choice applications for 279 offers: 1.3 first choices per offer, the 2nd highest of 10 Brighton and Hove secondary schools.
- 254 Year 7 2026 offers went to first-choice families, and 96 first-choice families were not offered a place; 25 offers went to families who ranked it second or lower.
- In 2024/25, 56% of pupils got grade 5 or above in GCSE English and maths (England 45%), and the Attainment 8 score was 48.8 (England 46).
Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Brighton and Hove schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.
Key facts
- Address
- Balfour Road, Brighton, BN1 6NP
- Type
- Community school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- 11–16
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Council
- Brighton and Hove
- Pupils on roll
- 1,487 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 23% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 17
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
Good Inspected 5 October 2022
Strengths
- “Varndean School is on a mission to achieve its goal of ‘world-class’ education.”
- “Inspirational leaders are rapidly transforming the school.”
- “They constantly look for ways to make it better and improve the areas that could be even stronger.”
To improve
- “Very rarely, some subject planning is less coherent.”
- “In those cases, pupils do not gain enough knowledge at the right time to make sense of what comes later.”
Safeguarding: Effective
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 16 November 2022 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Exam results
| Measure | School | England |
|---|---|---|
| GCSE English and maths, grade 5 or above (2024/25) | 56% | 45% |
| Attainment 8 score (2024/25) | 48.8 | 46 |
Department for Education school performance data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Applications and offers
- 2026 Year 7 entry: 350 first-preference applications, 279 offers in total, 254 offers to first-preference applicants.
Department for Education, school-level applications and offers, figures on national offer day. Earlier years are in the pass.
Nearby secondary schools
Straight-line distance, in Brighton and Hove.
- Dorothy Stringer School 0.3 mi Good Last distance published
- Patcham High School 0.9 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Cardinal Newman Catholic School 1.3 mi Not judged Last distance published
- Brighton Aldridge Community Academy 1.9 mi Not judged Last distance published
- Blatchington Mill School 2.0 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Hove Park School and Sixth Form Centre 2.0 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- King's School 2.4 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Longhill High School 3.7 mi Requires improvement Last distance published