Blatchington Mill School
Nevill Avenue, Hove, BN3 7BW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Ms Kate Claydon
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Hove and Portslade
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,650
- Pupils on roll
- 1,622
- URN
- 114606
- Local authority
- Brighton and Hove
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01273736244
About this school
Blatchington Mill School is a community secondary school in Hove. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,622 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Blatchington Mill 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 23 February 2022, 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 | 325 | 315 | 328 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.7 | 52.4 | 51.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.03 -0.13 to +0.18 | +0.30 +0.13 to +0.46 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 50% | 61.3% | 61.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 73% | 79.4% | 78% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 54% | 53% | 56.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.7 |
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 Blatchington Mill 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 | 49.7 | 40.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 52.4 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,621 |
| 2023/24 | 1,629 |
| 2024/25 | 1,635 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Blatchington Mill School compares
Blatchington Mill School ranked 3rd of 10 secondary schools in Brighton and Hove for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 79% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51 | 11.4% | 21.3% | 1,622 | — |
| Hove Park School and Sixth Form Centre | 41.1 | 13.6% | 36.5% | 941 | 0.3 miles |
| King's School | 53.7 | 6.7% | 19.5% | 925 | 0.8 miles |
| Cardinal Newman Catholic School | 50.4 | 9.3% | 21.1% | 2,657 | 1.2 miles |
| Dorothy Stringer School | 53.3 | 10.8% | 24% | 1,626 | 1.7 miles |
| Varndean School | 48.8 | 9.2% | 20.5% | 1,487 | 2.0 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)
- 21.28%
- English as an additional language
- 15.1%
- Overall absence
- 11.35%
- Persistent absence
- 32.51%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hove Park School and Sixth Form Centre0.3 miles
Secondary · Hove
-
King's School0.8 miles
Secondary · Hove
-
Cardinal Newman Catholic School1.2 miles
Secondary · Hove
-
Dorothy Stringer School1.7 miles
Secondary · Brighton
-
Varndean School2.0 miles
Secondary · Brighton
Other schools in Hove
- Cardinal Newman Catholic School Secondary
- Hove Park School and Sixth Form Centre Secondary
- King's School Secondary
- Aldrington CofE Primary School Primary
- Brunswick Primary School Primary
- Cottesmore St Mary's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Goldstone Primary School Primary
- Hangleton Primary School Primary
- Hove Junior School Primary
- St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Primary School Primary
- West Blatchington Primary and Nursery School Primary
- West Hove Infant School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Blatchington Mill School teach?
- Blatchington Mill School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Hove.
- Who is the headteacher of Blatchington Mill School?
- The headteacher of Blatchington Mill School is Ms Kate Claydon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Blatchington Mill School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Blatchington Mill 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 Blatchington Mill School?
- Blatchington Mill School has 1,622 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Blatchington Mill School full?
- Blatchington Mill School has capacity for 1,650 pupils and 1,622 on roll (98%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Blatchington Mill School a faith school?
- No. Blatchington Mill School has no designated religious character.
- Is Blatchington Mill School a selective school?
- No. Blatchington Mill School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Blatchington Mill School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.7 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 Blatchington Mill School compare with other schools in Brighton and Hove?
- Blatchington Mill School ranked 3rd of 10 secondary schools in Brighton and Hove for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 79% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Blatchington Mill School's absence rate?
- Blatchington Mill School's overall absence rate is 11.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Blatchington Mill School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Blatchington Mill 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.