Portslade Aldridge Community Academy
Chalky Road, Portslade, Brighton, BN41 2WS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ALDRIDGE EDUCATION
- Principal
- Dr Mark Poston
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Aldridge Education
- Constituency
- Hove and Portslade
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,075
- Pupils on roll
- 910
- URN
- 137063
- Local authority
- Brighton and Hove
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01273416300
About this school
Portslade Aldridge Community Academy is a secondary academy in Brighton. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 910 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
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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 168 | 187 | 192 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.8 | 46.6 | 42.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.10 -0.32 to +0.11 | -0.01 -0.22 to +0.20 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 43% | 45.5% | 42.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 65.8% | 60.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 48% | 63.1% | 66.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.2 |
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 Portslade Aldridge Community Academy 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 | 44.8 | 40.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.6 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.7 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 953 |
| 2023/24 | 974 |
| 2024/25 | 928 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Portslade Aldridge Community Academy compares
Portslade Aldridge Community Academy ranked 7th of 10 secondary schools in Brighton and Hove for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 48% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.7 | 11.6% | 32.1% | 910 | — |
| Shoreham Academy | 54.8 | 7.4% | 17.6% | 1,759 | 1.3 miles |
| King's School | 53.7 | 6.7% | 19.5% | 925 | 1.5 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 |
| Cardinal Newman Catholic School | 50.4 | 9.3% | 21.1% | 2,657 | 3.1 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)
- 32.11%
- English as an additional language
- 7.5%
- Overall absence
- 11.57%
- Persistent absence
- 28.19%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Shoreham Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Shoreham-by-Sea
-
King's School1.5 miles
Secondary · Hove
-
Blatchington Mill School2.0 miles
Secondary · Hove
-
Hove Park School and Sixth Form Centre2.1 miles
Secondary · Hove
-
Cardinal Newman Catholic School3.1 miles
Secondary · Hove
Other schools in Brighton
Portslade Aldridge Community Academy ranks 4th of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Brighton.
- Brighton Aldridge Community Academy Secondary
- Dorothy Stringer School Secondary
- Longhill High School Secondary
- Patcham High School 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 Portslade Aldridge Community Academy teach?
- Portslade Aldridge Community Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Brighton.
- Who is the principal of Portslade Aldridge Community Academy?
- The principal of Portslade Aldridge Community Academy is Dr Mark Poston, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Portslade Aldridge Community Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Portslade Aldridge Community Academy, 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 Portslade Aldridge Community Academy?
- Portslade Aldridge Community Academy has 910 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Portslade Aldridge Community Academy full?
- Portslade Aldridge Community Academy has capacity for 1,075 pupils and 910 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 Portslade Aldridge Community Academy a faith school?
- No. Portslade Aldridge Community Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Portslade Aldridge Community Academy a selective school?
- No. Portslade Aldridge Community Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Portslade Aldridge Community Academy?
- Portslade Aldridge Community Academy is part of ALDRIDGE EDUCATION. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Portslade Aldridge Community Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.8 in 2022/23 and 42.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Portslade Aldridge Community Academy rank locally?
- Portslade Aldridge Community Academy ranked 7th of 10 secondary schools in Brighton and Hove for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 48% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Portslade Aldridge Community Academy's absence rate?
- Portslade Aldridge Community Academy's overall absence rate is 11.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Portslade Aldridge Community Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Portslade Aldridge Community Academy'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 1 July 2026.