Hill Park School
Foredown Road, Portslade, Brighton, BN41 2FU
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 4 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rachel Burstow
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Hove and Portslade
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Pupils on roll
- 283
- URN
- 114687
- Local authority
- Brighton and Hove
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01273422855
About this school
Hill Park School is a community special school in Brighton. It teaches children aged 4 to 16 and has 283 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Early years
- Outstanding
- 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 | 16 | 12 | 17 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
| Reading progress | -8.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -8.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -9.60 | - | - |
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.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 22 | 26 | 36 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | 0.5 | 3.4 |
| Progress 8 score | - | -1.94 -2.52 to -1.36 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | 0% | 2.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | 0% | 8.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | 0.0 | 0.2 |
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 Hill Park 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 | 0% | 55.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 56% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 55.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Brighton and Hove average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | — | 40.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 0.5 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 3.4 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 15.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 201 |
| 2023/24 | 236 |
| 2024/25 | 264 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 43.94%
- English as an additional language
- 12.1%
- Overall absence
- 13.24%
- Persistent absence
- 40%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hove Micro-School0.7 miles
Special schools · Southwick
-
Herons Dale School1.3 miles
Special schools · Shoreham-by-Sea
-
The Lioncare School1.4 miles
Special schools · Hove
-
Shoreham College1.5 miles
Independent schools
-
St Christopher's School1.8 miles
Independent schools · Hove
Other schools in Brighton
- Central Hub Brighton Local authority maintained schools
- Downs View Life Skills College Other types
- Downs View Special School Special schools
- Hamilton Lodge School and College for Deaf Children Special schools
- St. John's College (Brighton) Other types
- Team Domenica Other types
- 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
Common questions
- What year groups does Hill Park School teach?
- Hill Park School teaches children aged 4 to 16. It is a special school in Brighton.
- Who is the headteacher of Hill Park School?
- The headteacher of Hill Park School is Mrs Rachel Burstow, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Hill Park School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Hill Park 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 Hill Park School?
- Hill Park School has 283 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 16.
- Is Hill Park School a faith school?
- No. Hill Park School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Hill Park School have?
- The schools register lists Hill Park School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Hill Park School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Hill Park School's absence rate?
- Hill Park School's overall absence rate is 13.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Hill Park School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Hill Park 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.