Willingdon Community School
Broad Road, Lower Willingdon, Eastbourne, BN20 9QX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Emily May
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment
- Constituency
- Lewes
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,053
- Pupils on roll
- 1,117
- URN
- 114592
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01323485254
About this school
Willingdon Community School is a community secondary school in Eastbourne. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,117 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. 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 14 June 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. 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 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 200 | 194 | 198 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.0 | 47.9 | 45.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.06 -0.26 to +0.13 | +0.08 -0.12 to +0.28 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 40% | 47.4% | 48.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 65% | 72.7% | 70.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 8% | 34.5% | 39.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.0 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Willingdon Community 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 | 45 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.9 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45 | 33.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,019 |
| 2023/24 | 1,051 |
| 2024/25 | 1,093 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Willingdon Community School compares
Willingdon Community School ranked 12th of 22 secondary schools in East Sussex for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 57% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 22% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45 | 7.4% | 19.6% | 1,117 | — |
| The Eastbourne Academy | 37.7 | 10.9% | 47.3% | 776 | 1.4 miles |
| Ratton School | 43 | 9.1% | 26.7% | 1,183 | 1.6 miles |
| The Turing School | 34.6 | 15% | 40.5% | 771 | 2.2 miles |
| St Catherine's College | 47.6 | 8.7% | 25.3% | 1,064 | 3.5 miles |
| Seaford Head School | 49.4 | 8.6% | 20.3% | 1,461 | 6.1 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)
- 19.58%
- English as an additional language
- 3.1%
- Overall absence
- 7.37%
- Persistent absence
- 19.12%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Eastbourne Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Eastbourne
-
Ratton School1.6 miles
Secondary · Eastbourne
-
The Turing School2.2 miles
Secondary · Eastbourne
-
St Catherine's College3.5 miles
Secondary · Eastbourne
-
Seaford Head School6.1 miles
Secondary · Seaford
Other schools in Eastbourne
Willingdon Community School ranks 4th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Eastbourne.
- Ratton School Secondary
- St Catherine's College Secondary
- The Eastbourne Academy Secondary
- The Turing School Secondary
- Bourne Primary School Primary
- 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
Common questions
- What year groups does Willingdon Community School teach?
- Willingdon Community School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Eastbourne.
- Who is the headteacher of Willingdon Community School?
- The headteacher of Willingdon Community School is Mrs Emily May, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Willingdon Community School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Willingdon Community 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 Willingdon Community School?
- Willingdon Community School has 1,117 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Willingdon Community School full?
- Willingdon Community School has capacity for 1,053 pupils and 1,117 on roll (106%), so it is at or above 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 Willingdon Community School a faith school?
- No. Willingdon Community School has no designated religious character.
- Is Willingdon Community School a selective school?
- No. Willingdon Community School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Willingdon Community School have?
- The schools register lists Willingdon Community School's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Willingdon Community School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45 in 2022/23 and 45 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Willingdon Community School rank locally?
- Willingdon Community School ranked 12th of 22 secondary schools in East Sussex for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 57% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 22% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Willingdon Community School's absence rate?
- Willingdon Community School's overall absence rate is 7.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Willingdon Community School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Willingdon Community 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.