Cuckmere House School
Eastbourne Road, Seaford, BN25 4BA
- Phase
- Academies
- School type
- Academy special converter
- Ages
- 6 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE SABDEN MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Executive Headteacher
- Mr David Donnelly
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- The Sabden Multi Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Constituency
- Lewes
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 66
- Pupils on roll
- 92
- URN
- 142146
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01323691000
About this school
Cuckmere House School is a special academy in Seaford. It teaches children aged 6 to 16 and has 92 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- 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 | 13 | 15 | 14 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 27% | 36% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 7% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 13% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 97.0 | 97.0 | 96.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 94.0 | 94.0 | 92.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -9.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -5.40 | - | - |
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.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| Attainment 8 score | 25.8 | 14.6 | 11.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.08 -0.97 to +1.13 | -2.07 -3.11 to -1.02 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 11% | 0% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
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 Cuckmere House 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 | East Sussex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 54.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 56.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 57.6% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | East Sussex average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 25.8 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 14.6 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 11.2 | 33.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 21.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 28.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 24.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 88 |
| 2023/24 | 81 |
| 2024/25 | 85 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 69.41%
- English as an additional language
- 2.4%
- Overall absence
- 24.26%
- Persistent absence
- 45.74%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bowden House School1.2 miles
Special schools · Seaford
-
The South Downs School5.4 miles
Academies · Eastbourne
-
St Andrew's Prep6.2 miles
Independent schools · Eastbourne
-
Bede's Prep School6.3 miles
Independent schools · Eastbourne
-
The Lindfield School6.4 miles
Academies · Eastbourne
Other schools in Seaford
- Bowden House School Special schools
- Annecy Catholic Primary School Primary
- Chyngton School Primary
- Cradle Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Seaford Primary School Primary
- Seaford Head School Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Cuckmere House School teach?
- Cuckmere House School teaches children aged 6 to 16. It is a special school in Seaford.
- Who is the executive headteacher of Cuckmere House School?
- The executive headteacher of Cuckmere House School is Mr David Donnelly, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Cuckmere House School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Cuckmere House 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 Cuckmere House School?
- Cuckmere House School has 92 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 6 to 16.
- Is Cuckmere House School full?
- Cuckmere House School has capacity for 66 pupils and 92 on roll (139%), so it is at or above 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 Cuckmere House School a faith school?
- No. Cuckmere House School has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Cuckmere House School?
- Cuckmere House School is part of THE SABDEN MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Cuckmere House School have?
- The schools register lists Cuckmere House School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Cuckmere House School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Cuckmere House School's absence rate?
- Cuckmere House School's overall absence rate is 24.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Cuckmere House School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Cuckmere House 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 2 July 2026.