Which school has the best GCSE results in East Sussex?

On 2025 Attainment 8, Dorothy Stringer School tops the table in East Sussex with 53.3, against an England average of 46.0. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so compare a school's grade 5+ pass rate and, where published, its Progress 8 before reading the rank as a verdict.

When are the 2026 GCSE results for East Sussex schools published?

Pupils receive their results in August, but school-by-school figures come from the DfE performance tables, which publish provisional results in the autumn (usually mid-October) and revised figures early in the new year. This table shows 2025 results, the 2024/25 academic year, and updates when the next release is imported.

What is Attainment 8?

Attainment 8 is the DfE's headline GCSE measure: the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight qualifications, with English and maths counted twice. A score of 50 means pupils averaged roughly a grade 5 across those subjects. No Progress 8 exists for 2025 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020.

Why does a school in East Sussex show no GCSE results?

A school has no published figure when it had no Year 11 cohort in the year (a new school, or one that opened with younger year groups), when it converted to an academy and the DfE published results under its previous identity, or when it is independent and its pupils sat IGCSE, Pre-U or IB qualifications that the DfE tables do not count. Independent schools with a published figure are listed separately and unranked for that reason.

East Sussex GCSE results 2025: secondary school league table

31 state secondary schools in East Sussex ranked on their 2025 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2024/25 academic year, the latest DfE has published for every school), with grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc average point score and cohort size for each school against the England average. 4 schools with no published results are listed at the end. 14 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

County 35 state secondary schools 2024/25 results

Secondary schools in East Sussex ranked on Attainment 8

31 of 35 schools have published 2025 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2024/25.

Secondary schools in East Sussex ranked on Attainment 8, 2025 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.0	45%	65%	4.09	–
1	Dorothy Stringer School Brighton · Community school	53.3	62%	80%	5.07	330
2	Blatchington Mill School Hove · Community school	50.9	62%	78%	4.66	328
3	Heathfield Community College Heathfield · Community school	50.6	54%	73%	4.49	232
4	Cardinal Newman Catholic School Hove · Voluntary aided school	50.4	48%	72%	4.46	365
5	Claverham Community College Battle · Community school	50.3	56%	74%	4.69	218
6	Beacon Academy Crowborough · Academy converter	50.2	61%	81%	4.43	252
7	Seaford Head School Seaford · Academy converter	49.4	50%	74%	4.56	232
8	Chailey School Lewes · Community school	49.3	52%	71%	4.66	168
9	Varndean School Brighton · Community school	48.8	56%	73%	4.54	299
10=	King's Academy Ringmer Lewes · Academy converter	47.6	41%	69%	4.47	99
10=	St Catherine's College Eastbourne · Academy converter	47.6	46%	73%	4.18	215
12	The Cavendish School Eastbourne · Academy converter	47.3	53%	72%	4.17	170
13	Uckfield College Uckfield · Community school	47.0	46%	70%	4.36	238
14	Gildredge House Eastbourne · Free schools	46.7	45%	72%	4.08	148
15	Priory School Lewes · Foundation school	46.4	52%	69%	4.35	225
16	Patcham High School Brighton · Community school	45.5	45%	66%	4.33	218
17	Willingdon Community School Eastbourne · Community school	45.0	49%	71%	3.98	198
18	Ratton School Eastbourne · Academy converter	43.0	43%	64%	3.54	236
19	Portslade Aldridge Community Academy Brighton · Academy sponsor led	42.7	43%	61%	4.18	192
20	Ark Alexandra Academy Hastings · Academy sponsor led	42.6	41%	65%	3.68	221
21	Uplands Academy Wadhurst · Academy converter	42.5	37%	70%	3.64	119
22	Bexhill High Academy Bexhill-on-Sea · Academy converter	41.7	34%	60%	3.48	291
23	Hove Park School and Sixth Form Centre Hove · Community school	41.1	35%	55%	3.76	173
24	Seahaven Academy Newhaven · Academy sponsor led	40.3	40%	65%	3.53	139
25	Peacehaven Community School Peacehaven · Academy converter	40.1	33%	52%	3.43	174
26	Mulberry Academy Hastings Hastings · Academy sponsor led	38.2	27%	55%	3.15	148
27	The Eastbourne Academy Eastbourne · Academy sponsor led	37.7	25%	51%	3.14	160
28	Rye College Rye · Academy converter	36.8	35%	52%	3.13	103
29	Brighton Aldridge Community Academy Brighton · Academy sponsor led	36.2	23%	45%	3.15	116
30	The Turing School Eastbourne · Academy sponsor led	34.6	27%	47%	2.90	125
31	Longhill High School Brighton · Community school	32.9	22%	40%	2.83	162
–	Hailsham Academy Hailsham · Academy converter · No published GCSE results	–	–	–	–	–
–	Mulberry Academy St Leonards St Leonards-on-Sea · Academy sponsor led · No published GCSE results	–	–	–	–	–
–	Robertsbridge Community College Robertsbridge · Academy sponsor led · No published GCSE results	–	–	–	–	–
–	St Richard's Catholic College Bexhill-on-Sea · Academy converter · No published GCSE results	–	–	–	–	–

Schools with the same Attainment 8 score share a rank (shown as "=").

Independent schools in East Sussex with published GCSE results

Listed as published, not ranked. The DfE tables count only reformed GCSEs, so a school whose pupils sit IGCSE, Pre-U or the IB reports a lower figure than its results merit, or none at all. Compare independent schools on their own published examination results and inspection reports.

School	Attainment 8 (as published)	Grade 5+ English & maths	Pupils
Battle Abbey School East Sussex · Other independent school	42.3	0%	58
Bede's Senior School Hailsham · Other independent school	26.4	0%	186
Brighton College Brighton · Other independent school	57.9	0%	217
Buckswood School East Sussex · Other independent school	16.1	2%	58
Claremont School St Leonards-on-Sea · Other independent school	36.3	0%	74
Drive Preparatory School Hove · Other independent school	31.8	25%	8
Eastbourne College Eastbourne · Other independent school	40.2	0%	131
Greenfields School Other independent school	14.6	0%	14
Lewes Old Grammar School Other independent school	60.4	76%	99
Mayfield School Mayfield · Other independent school	63.5	36%	62
Michael Hall School Forest Row · Other independent school	35.8	47%	32
Oxford International College, Brighton Brighton · Other independent school	10.4	0%	49
Roedean School Brighton · Other independent school	16.5	0%	138
The Montessori Place Hove · Other independent school · 2024 results	17.3	0%	8

How to read this table

Attainment 8 is the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight GCSE subjects: English and maths (double-weighted), three EBacc subjects (sciences, computing, history, geography, languages) and three further approved qualifications. The DfE publishes it for every state school; the England average for 2025 was 46.0.

Grade 5+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching a "strong pass" in both; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". EBacc APS is the average point score across the English Baccalaureate subjects, including pupils who did not enter them.

Progress 8 is not shown: the DfE published no Progress 8 for 2025 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020, the baseline it is measured from, and the same applies to 2026. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so a selective school will usually top an attainment-only table.

Ranks are shared where scores tie. Schools are ranked here on published results alone; our composite score, which also weighs Ofsted inspection, progress and attendance, orders the same schools on the best secondary schools page.

See the best secondary schools in East Sussex on our composite score

East Sussex GCSE results 2025: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in East Sussex ranked on Attainment 8

Independent schools in East Sussex with published GCSE results

More about schools in East Sussex

East Sussex GCSE results: common questions