Bourne Primary School
Melbourne Road, Eastbourne, BN22 8BD
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Cassandra Palmer
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Eastbourne
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 450
- Pupils on roll
- 414
- URN
- 114473
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01323724729
About this school
Bourne Primary School is a community primary school in Eastbourne. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 414 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 85 | 55 | 51 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 41% | 38% | 33% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 2% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 54% | 58% | 55% |
| Expected standard in maths | 53% | 49% | 55% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 61% | 51% | 51% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 101.0 | 101.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 98.0 | 100.0 |
| Reading progress | -3.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -4.10 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Bourne Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | East Sussex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 41% | 54.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 38% | 56.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 33% | 57.6% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 447 |
| 2023/24 | 434 |
| 2024/25 | 446 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bourne Primary School compares
Bourne Primary School ranked 124th of 131 primary schools in East Sussex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 8% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 33% | 7.6% | 34.2% | 414 | — |
| Roselands Infants' School | — | 5.4% | 19.3% | 244 | 0.5 miles |
| St Thomas A Becket Catholic Primary School | — | — | — | 432 | 0.7 miles |
| Stafford Junior School | 66% | 4.8% | 29.4% | 355 | 0.7 miles |
| St Andrew's Church of England Infants School | — | 6.8% | 35.6% | 215 | 0.9 miles |
| Tollgate Community Junior School | 57% | 6.2% | 37.4% | 335 | 1.4 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 34.15%
- English as an additional language
- 59.9%
- Overall absence
- 7.57%
- Persistent absence
- 27.36%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Roselands Infants' School0.5 miles
Primary · Eastbourne
-
St Thomas A Becket Catholic Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Eastbourne
-
Stafford Junior School0.7 miles
Primary · Eastbourne
-
St Andrew's Church of England Infants School0.9 miles
Primary · Eastbourne
-
Tollgate Community Junior School1.4 miles
Primary · Eastbourne
Other schools in Eastbourne
Bourne Primary School ranks 14th of the 14 ranked primary schools in Eastbourne.
- Heron Park Primary Academy Primary
- Langney Primary Academy Primary
- Motcombe Infants' School Primary
- Oakwood Primary Academy Primary
- Ocklynge Junior School Primary
- Parkland Infant School Primary
- Parkland Junior School Primary
- Pashley Down Infant School Primary
- Roselands Infants' School Primary
- Shinewater Primary School Primary
- St Andrew's Church of England Infants School Primary
- St John's Meads Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Bourne Primary School teach?
- Bourne Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Eastbourne.
- Who is the headteacher of Bourne Primary School?
- The headteacher of Bourne Primary School is Mrs Cassandra Palmer, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Bourne Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bourne Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Bourne Primary School?
- Bourne Primary School has 414 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Bourne Primary School full?
- Bourne Primary School has capacity for 450 pupils and 414 on roll (92%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Bourne Primary School a faith school?
- No. Bourne Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Bourne Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Bourne Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Bourne Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 41% in 2022/23 and 33% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bourne Primary School rank locally?
- Bourne Primary School ranked 124th of 131 primary schools in East Sussex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 8% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bourne Primary School's absence rate?
- Bourne Primary School's overall absence rate is 7.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bourne Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bourne Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.