Fairlight Primary School
St Leonard's Road, Brighton, BN2 3AJ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Damien Jordan
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Brighton Pavilion
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 393
- URN
- 114487
- Local authority
- Brighton and Hove
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01273601270
About this school
Fairlight Primary School is a community primary school in Brighton. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 393 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Fairlight Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 5 June 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good and saw signs of improvement; a full inspection will follow. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 42 | 51 | 45 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 52% | 55% | 51% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 2% | 2% |
| Expected standard in reading | 69% | 71% | 67% |
| Expected standard in maths | 74% | 73% | 71% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 71% | 69% | 78% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 103.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.10 | - | - |
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 Fairlight 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 | Brighton and Hove average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 52% | 55.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 55% | 56% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 51% | 55.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 337 |
| 2023/24 | 338 |
| 2024/25 | 374 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Fairlight Primary School compares
Fairlight Primary School ranked 30th of 43 primary schools in Brighton and Hove for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 35% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51% | 6.3% | 49.1% | 393 | — |
| St Martin's CofE Primary School | 60% | 5.5% | 40.2% | 212 | 0.1 miles |
| Elm Grove Primary School | 39% | 5.8% | 20.2% | 404 | 0.3 miles |
| Downs Infant School | — | 5.7% | 11.5% | 289 | 0.4 miles |
| Coombe Road Primary School | 47% | 7.5% | 52.6% | 192 | 0.5 miles |
| Downs Junior School | 60% | 5.4% | 16.8% | 495 | 0.5 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)
- 49.13%
- English as an additional language
- 29.1%
- Overall absence
- 6.26%
- Persistent absence
- 19.74%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Martin's CofE Primary School0.1 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
Elm Grove Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
Downs Infant School0.4 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
Coombe Road Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
Downs Junior School0.5 miles
Primary · Brighton
Other schools in Brighton
Fairlight Primary School ranks 23rd of the 36 ranked primary schools in Brighton.
- Balfour Primary School Primary
- Benfield Primary School Primary
- Bevendean Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Brackenbury Primary School Primary
- Carden Nursery and Primary School Primary
- Carlton Hill Primary School Primary
- City Academy Whitehawk Primary
- Coldean Primary School Primary
- Coombe Road Primary School Primary
- Downs Infant School Primary
- Downs Junior School Primary
- Eastbrook Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Fairlight Primary School teach?
- Fairlight Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Brighton.
- Who is the headteacher of Fairlight Primary School?
- The headteacher of Fairlight Primary School is Mr Damien Jordan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Fairlight Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Fairlight 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 many pupils are at Fairlight Primary School?
- Fairlight Primary School has 393 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Fairlight Primary School full?
- Fairlight Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 393 on roll (94%), 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 Fairlight Primary School a faith school?
- No. Fairlight Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Fairlight Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Fairlight Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Fairlight Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 52% in 2022/23 and 51% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Fairlight Primary School compare with other schools in Brighton and Hove?
- Fairlight Primary School ranked 30th of 43 primary schools in Brighton and Hove for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 35% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Fairlight Primary School's absence rate?
- Fairlight Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Fairlight Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Fairlight 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.