Blackthorns Community Primary School
3 Blackthorns Close, Lindfield, Haywards Heath, RH16 2UA
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- HURST EDUCATION TRUST LIMITED
- Principal
- Mrs Marianne Brand & Mrs Emma Saunders (Co-Interim Heads)
- Constituency
- Mid Sussex
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 203
- URN
- 141892
- Local authority
- West Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01444454866
About this school
Blackthorns Community Primary School is a primary academy in Haywards Heath. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 203 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 30 April 2025, where inspectors found some aspects are not as strong as at the previous inspection. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 28 | 30 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 79% | 67% | 77% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 11% | 7% | 13% |
| Expected standard in reading | 93% | 83% | 93% |
| Expected standard in maths | 89% | 73% | 93% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 93% | 83% | 87% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 111.0 | 109.0 | 111.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 105.0 | 109.0 |
| Reading progress | +4.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.00 | - | - |
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 Blackthorns Community 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 | West Sussex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 79% | 53.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 67% | 54.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 77% | 56.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 210 |
| 2023/24 | 210 |
| 2024/25 | 210 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Blackthorns Community Primary School compares
Blackthorns Community Primary School ranked 17th of 192 primary schools in West Sussex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 82% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 77% | 3.2% | 4.8% | 203 | — |
| Lindfield Primary Academy | 70% | 3.6% | 5.9% | 656 | 0.2 miles |
| Warden Park Primary Academy | 60% | 5.3% | 18.7% | 453 | 0.7 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | 67% | 4.2% | 4.9% | 434 | 0.9 miles |
| St Wilfrid's CofE Primary School | 63% | 4.9% | 12.6% | 418 | 0.9 miles |
| Northlands Wood Primary Academy | 67% | 5.2% | 12.6% | 419 | 1.0 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)
- 4.76%
- English as an additional language
- 5.7%
- Overall absence
- 3.22%
- Persistent absence
- 4.4%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lindfield Primary Academy0.2 miles
Primary · Haywards Heath
-
Warden Park Primary Academy0.7 miles
Primary · Haywards Heath
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Haywards Heath
-
St Wilfrid's CofE Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Haywards Heath
-
Northlands Wood Primary Academy1.0 miles
Primary · Haywards Heath
Other schools in Haywards Heath
Blackthorns Community Primary School ranks 3rd of the 18 ranked primary schools in Haywards Heath.
- Balcombe Cofe Primary School Primary
- Bolney CofE Primary School Primary
- Bolnore Village Primary School Primary
- Danehill Church of England Primary School Primary
- Handcross Primary School Primary
- Harlands Primary School Primary
- Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, Cuckfield Primary
- Lindfield Primary Academy Primary
- Northlands Wood Primary Academy Primary
- St Augustine's CofE Primary School Primary
- St Giles CofE Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Blackthorns Community Primary School teach?
- Blackthorns Community Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Haywards Heath.
- Who is the principal of Blackthorns Community Primary School?
- The principal of Blackthorns Community Primary School is Mrs Marianne Brand & Mrs Emma Saunders (Co-Interim Heads), as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Blackthorns Community Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Blackthorns Community 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 big is Blackthorns Community Primary School?
- Blackthorns Community Primary School has 203 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Blackthorns Community Primary School full?
- Blackthorns Community Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 203 on roll (97%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Blackthorns Community Primary School a faith school?
- No. Blackthorns Community Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Blackthorns Community Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Blackthorns Community Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Blackthorns Community Primary School?
- Blackthorns Community Primary School is part of HURST EDUCATION TRUST LIMITED. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Blackthorns Community Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 79% in 2022/23 and 77% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Blackthorns Community Primary School rank locally?
- Blackthorns Community Primary School ranked 17th of 192 primary schools in West Sussex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 82% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Blackthorns Community Primary School's absence rate?
- Blackthorns Community Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Blackthorns Community Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Blackthorns Community 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 15 July 2026.