High Cliff Academy
Southdown Road, Newhaven, BN9 9FD
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- STEP ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Megan West
- Sponsor
- STEP ACADEMY TRUST
- Constituency
- Lewes
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 154
- URN
- 140385
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01273041471
About this school
High Cliff Academy is a primary academy in Newhaven. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 154 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected 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 | 55 | 23 | 29 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 53% | 70% | 76% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 2% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 62% | 78% | 79% |
| Expected standard in maths | 65% | 70% | 83% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 64% | 70% | 76% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 102.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | -3.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.50 | - | - |
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 High Cliff 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 | East Sussex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53% | 54.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 70% | 56.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 76% | 57.6% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 232 |
| 2023/24 | 187 |
| 2024/25 | 162 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How High Cliff Academy compares
High Cliff Academy ranked 20th of 131 primary schools in East Sussex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 80% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 76% | 7.2% | 35.8% | 154 | — |
| Harbour Primary and Nursery School | 74% | 7.2% | 40% | 473 | 0.4 miles |
| Breakwater Academy | 81% | 4.6% | 46% | 144 | 0.5 miles |
| Denton Community Primary School and Nursery | 52% | 5% | 22.4% | 232 | 1.4 miles |
| Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery | 31% | 6.2% | 27.5% | 449 | 2.0 miles |
| Peacehaven Heights Academy | 79% | 6.6% | 37.5% | 339 | 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 35.8%
- English as an additional language
- 8.6%
- Overall absence
- 7.17%
- Persistent absence
- 17.28%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Harbour Primary and Nursery School0.4 miles
Primary · Newhaven
-
Breakwater Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Newhaven
-
Denton Community Primary School and Nursery1.4 miles
Primary · Newhaven
-
Meridian Community Primary School and Nursery2.0 miles
Primary · Peacehaven
-
Peacehaven Heights Academy2.1 miles
Primary · Peacehaven
Other schools in Newhaven
- Breakwater Academy Primary
- Denton Community Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Harbour Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Seahaven Academy Secondary
Recorded changes at this school
Previous headteacher: Miss Carla Botting (until September 2026).
- Headteacher changed from Miss Carla Botting to Ms Megan West recorded 3 Sep 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does High Cliff Academy teach?
- High Cliff Academy teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Newhaven.
- Who is the headteacher of High Cliff Academy?
- The headteacher of High Cliff Academy is Ms Megan West, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was High Cliff Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected High Cliff 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 High Cliff Academy?
- High Cliff Academy has 154 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is High Cliff Academy full?
- High Cliff Academy has capacity for 210 pupils and 154 on roll (73%), 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 High Cliff Academy a faith school?
- No. High Cliff Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does High Cliff Academy have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records High Cliff Academy as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs High Cliff Academy?
- High Cliff Academy is part of STEP ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have High Cliff Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 53% in 2022/23 and 76% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does High Cliff Academy rank locally?
- High Cliff Academy ranked 20th of 131 primary schools in East Sussex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 80% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is High Cliff Academy's absence rate?
- High Cliff Academy's overall absence rate is 7.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are High Cliff Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, High Cliff 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 3 September 2026.