Ark Castledown Primary Academy
Priory Road, Hastings, TN34 3QT
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ARK SCHOOLS
- Headteacher
- Miss Rebecca Stewart
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- ARK Schools
- Constituency
- Hastings and Rye
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 480
- Pupils on roll
- 403
- URN
- 144083
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01424444046
About this school
Ark Castledown Primary Academy is a primary academy in Hastings. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 403 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Ark Castledown Primary Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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 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
- Exceptional
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Early years
- Strong 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 | 56 | 49 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 75% | 75% | 78% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 4% | 7% | 8% |
| Expected standard in reading | 76% | 80% | 80% |
| Expected standard in maths | 78% | 82% | 82% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 64% | 57% | 71% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 106.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.80 | - | - |
| 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 Ark Castledown Primary 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 | 75% | 54.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 75% | 56.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 78% | 57.6% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 387 |
| 2023/24 | 415 |
| 2024/25 | 396 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ark Castledown Primary Academy compares
Ark Castledown Primary Academy ranked 16th of 131 primary schools in East Sussex for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 78% | 6.4% | 58.4% | 403 | — |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School | — | — | — | — | 0.3 miles |
| Mulberry Baird Primary | 56% | 7.8% | 50.5% | 276 | 0.4 miles |
| Dudley Infant Academy | — | 6% | 31% | 169 | 0.4 miles |
| All Saints CofE Junior Academy | 63% | 5.4% | 31.8% | 222 | 0.6 miles |
| Ark Blacklands Primary Academy | 92% | 5.1% | 21.9% | 623 | 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report11 November 2025
- 23 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 58.4%
- English as an additional language
- 24.7%
- Overall absence
- 6.44%
- Persistent absence
- 19.33%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Hastings
-
Mulberry Baird Primary0.4 miles
Primary · Hastings
-
Dudley Infant Academy0.4 miles
Primary · Hastings
-
All Saints CofE Junior Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Hastings
-
Ark Blacklands Primary Academy0.8 miles
Primary · Hastings
Other schools in Hastings
Ark Castledown Primary Academy ranks 3rd of the 9 ranked primary schools in Hastings.
- All Saints CofE Junior Academy Primary
- Ark Blacklands Primary Academy Primary
- Christ Church CofE Primary and Nursery Academy Primary
- Dudley Infant Academy Primary
- Guestling Bradshaw Church of England Primary School Primary
- Mulberry Baird Primary Primary
- Ore Village Primary Academy Primary
- Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Primary
- Sandown Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Westfield School Primary
- Ark Alexandra Academy Secondary
- Mulberry Academy Hastings Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Ark Castledown Primary Academy teach?
- Ark Castledown Primary Academy teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Hastings.
- Who is the headteacher of Ark Castledown Primary Academy?
- The headteacher of Ark Castledown Primary Academy is Miss Rebecca Stewart, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Ark Castledown Primary Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ark Castledown Primary 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 many pupils are at Ark Castledown Primary Academy?
- Ark Castledown Primary Academy has 403 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Ark Castledown Primary Academy full?
- Ark Castledown Primary Academy has capacity for 480 pupils and 403 on roll (84%), 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 Ark Castledown Primary Academy a faith school?
- No. Ark Castledown Primary Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Ark Castledown Primary Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Ark Castledown Primary Academy as having nursery classes.
- Is Ark Castledown Primary Academy part of an academy trust?
- Ark Castledown Primary Academy is part of ARK SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Ark Castledown Primary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 75% in 2022/23 and 78% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ark Castledown Primary Academy compare with other schools in East Sussex?
- Ark Castledown Primary Academy ranked 16th of 131 primary schools in East Sussex for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ark Castledown Primary Academy's absence rate?
- Ark Castledown Primary Academy's overall absence rate is 6.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ark Castledown Primary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ark Castledown Primary 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 2 July 2026.