Carden Nursery and Primary School
County Oak Avenue, Brighton, BN1 8LU
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Laura Sibley
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Brighton Pavilion
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 359
- URN
- 131789
- Local authority
- Brighton and Hove
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01273916606
About this school
Carden Nursery and Primary School is a community primary school in Brighton. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 359 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Carden Nursery and 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 43 | 67 | 42 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 58% | 51% | 50% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 1% | 5% |
| Expected standard in reading | 74% | 69% | 67% |
| Expected standard in maths | 65% | 60% | 55% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 63% | 57% | 55% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 101.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.40 | - | - |
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 Carden Nursery and 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 | 58% | 55.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 51% | 56% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 50% | 55.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 377 |
| 2023/24 | 366 |
| 2024/25 | 366 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Carden Nursery and Primary School compares
Carden Nursery and Primary School ranked 32nd of 43 primary schools in Brighton and Hove for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50% | 7.4% | 42.5% | 359 | — |
| Patcham Junior School | 72% | 5.3% | 15.8% | 353 | 0.6 miles |
| Coldean Primary School | 46% | 7.4% | 45.7% | 309 | 0.7 miles |
| Patcham Infant School | — | 4.7% | 11.7% | 272 | 0.8 miles |
| Hertford Primary School | 44% | 6.9% | 36.2% | 205 | 1.1 miles |
| Balfour Primary School | 71% | 4.7% | 11.3% | 695 | 1.1 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 42.52%
- English as an additional language
- 13.9%
- Overall absence
- 7.41%
- Persistent absence
- 18.69%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Patcham Junior School0.6 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
Coldean Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
Patcham Infant School0.8 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
Hertford Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
Balfour Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Brighton
Other schools in Brighton
Carden Nursery and Primary School ranks 24th 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
- 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
- Elm Grove Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Carden Nursery and Primary School teach?
- Carden Nursery and Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Brighton.
- Who is the headteacher of Carden Nursery and Primary School?
- The headteacher of Carden Nursery and Primary School is Mrs Laura Sibley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Carden Nursery and Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Carden Nursery and 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 Carden Nursery and Primary School?
- Carden Nursery and Primary School has 359 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Carden Nursery and Primary School full?
- Carden Nursery and Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 359 on roll (85%), 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 Carden Nursery and Primary School a faith school?
- No. Carden Nursery and Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Carden Nursery and Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Carden Nursery and Primary School as having nursery classes.
- What SEN provision does Carden Nursery and Primary School have?
- The schools register lists Carden Nursery and Primary School's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Carden Nursery and Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 58% in 2022/23 and 50% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Carden Nursery and Primary School compare with other schools in Brighton and Hove?
- Carden Nursery and Primary School ranked 32nd of 43 primary schools in Brighton and Hove for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Carden Nursery and Primary School's absence rate?
- Carden Nursery and Primary School's overall absence rate is 7.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Carden Nursery and Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Carden Nursery and 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.