Patcham High School
Ladies Mile Road, Brighton, BN1 8PB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr John McKee
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Brighton Pavilion
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,125
- Pupils on roll
- 1,074
- URN
- 114608
- Local authority
- Brighton and Hove
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01273503908
About this school
Patcham High School is a community secondary school in Brighton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,074 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 19 April 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 | 221 | 221 | 218 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.9 | 44.0 | 45.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.21 -0.40 to -0.03 | -0.45 -0.64 to -0.26 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 51% | 45.7% | 45.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 73% | 62.9% | 66.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 33% | 68.3% | 61% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.3 |
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 Patcham High 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 | 47.9 | 40.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45.5 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,118 |
| 2023/24 | 1,092 |
| 2024/25 | 1,099 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Patcham High School compares
Patcham High School ranked 6th of 10 secondary schools in Brighton and Hove for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 59% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45.5 | 8.2% | 24.3% | 1,074 | — |
| Varndean School | 48.8 | 9.2% | 20.5% | 1,487 | 0.9 miles |
| Dorothy Stringer School | 53.3 | 10.8% | 24% | 1,626 | 0.9 miles |
| Cardinal Newman Catholic School | 50.4 | 9.3% | 21.1% | 2,657 | 1.9 miles |
| Blatchington Mill School | 51 | 11.4% | 21.3% | 1,622 | 2.0 miles |
| Hove Park School and Sixth Form Centre | 41.1 | 13.6% | 36.5% | 941 | 2.1 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)
- 24.29%
- English as an additional language
- 7.6%
- Overall absence
- 8.15%
- Persistent absence
- 21.35%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Varndean School0.9 miles
Secondary · Brighton
-
Dorothy Stringer School0.9 miles
Secondary · Brighton
-
Cardinal Newman Catholic School1.9 miles
Secondary · Hove
-
Blatchington Mill School2.0 miles
Secondary · Hove
-
Hove Park School and Sixth Form Centre2.1 miles
Secondary · Hove
Other schools in Brighton
Patcham High School ranks 3rd of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Brighton.
- Brighton Aldridge Community Academy Secondary
- Dorothy Stringer School Secondary
- Longhill High School Secondary
- Portslade Aldridge Community Academy Secondary
- Varndean School Secondary
- Royal Spa Nursery School Nursery
- Tarnerland Nursery School Nursery
- Balfour Primary School Primary
- Benfield Primary School Primary
- Bevendean Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Brackenbury Primary School Primary
- Carden Nursery and Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Patcham High School teach?
- Patcham High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Brighton.
- Who is the headteacher of Patcham High School?
- The headteacher of Patcham High School is Mr John McKee, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Patcham High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Patcham High 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 Patcham High School?
- Patcham High School has 1,074 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Patcham High School full?
- Patcham High School has capacity for 1,125 pupils and 1,074 on roll (95%), 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 Patcham High School a faith school?
- No. Patcham High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Patcham High School a selective school?
- No. Patcham High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Patcham High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.9 in 2022/23 and 45.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Patcham High School rank locally?
- Patcham High School ranked 6th of 10 secondary schools in Brighton and Hove for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 59% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Patcham High School's absence rate?
- Patcham High School's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Patcham High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Patcham High 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.