City Academy Whitehawk
Whitehawk Road, Whitehawk, Brighton, BN2 5FL
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- AURORA ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Florella Scozzafava
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Aurora Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 323
- URN
- 139677
- Local authority
- Brighton and Hove
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01273681377
About this school
City Academy Whitehawk is a primary academy in Brighton. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 323 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
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
- Good
- 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 | 58 | 48 | 46 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 41% | 58% | 57% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 4% | 4% |
| Expected standard in reading | 64% | 65% | 70% |
| Expected standard in maths | 48% | 69% | 65% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 55% | 67% | 76% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 102.0 | 102.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 98.0 | 102.0 | 100.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -4.30 | - | - |
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 City Academy Whitehawk 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 | 41% | 55.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 58% | 56% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 57% | 55.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 398 |
| 2023/24 | 387 |
| 2024/25 | 381 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How City Academy Whitehawk compares
City Academy Whitehawk ranked 26th of 43 primary schools in Brighton and Hove for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57% | 7.8% | 63.4% | 323 | — |
| St Mark's CofE Primary School | 33% | 8.4% | 59.6% | 156 | 0.4 miles |
| St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School | 40% | 7.7% | 41.8% | 193 | 0.4 miles |
| St Luke's Primary School | 60% | 5.4% | 18.7% | 622 | 0.6 miles |
| Elm Grove Primary School | 39% | 5.8% | 20.2% | 404 | 0.7 miles |
| Queen's Park Primary School | 30% | 9.1% | 48.3% | 286 | 0.8 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)
- 63.38%
- English as an additional language
- 11.8%
- Overall absence
- 7.8%
- Persistent absence
- 27.13%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Mark's CofE Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
St Luke's Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
Elm Grove Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Brighton
-
Queen's Park Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Brighton
Other schools in Brighton
City Academy Whitehawk ranks 20th 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
- Carden Nursery and Primary School Primary
- Carlton Hill Primary School 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 year groups does City Academy Whitehawk teach?
- City Academy Whitehawk teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Brighton.
- Who is the headteacher of City Academy Whitehawk?
- The headteacher of City Academy Whitehawk is Mrs Florella Scozzafava, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was City Academy Whitehawk last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected City Academy Whitehawk, 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 City Academy Whitehawk?
- City Academy Whitehawk has 323 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is City Academy Whitehawk full?
- City Academy Whitehawk has capacity for 420 pupils and 323 on roll (77%), 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 City Academy Whitehawk a faith school?
- No. City Academy Whitehawk has no designated religious character.
- Does City Academy Whitehawk have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records City Academy Whitehawk as having nursery classes.
- Who runs City Academy Whitehawk?
- City Academy Whitehawk is part of AURORA ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have City Academy Whitehawk's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 41% in 2022/23 and 57% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does City Academy Whitehawk rank locally?
- City Academy Whitehawk ranked 26th of 43 primary schools in Brighton and Hove for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is City Academy Whitehawk's absence rate?
- City Academy Whitehawk's overall absence rate is 7.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are City Academy Whitehawk's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, City Academy Whitehawk'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.