Which school has the best GCSE results in West Sussex?

On 2026 Attainment 8, Downlands Community School tops the table in West Sussex with 58.3, against an England average of 46.2. 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 West 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 2026 results, the 2025/26 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 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021.

Why does a school in West 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.

West Sussex GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

40 state secondary schools in West Sussex ranked on their 2026 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2025/26 academic year, the latest DfE has published for every school), with grade 7+, grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, cohort size for each school against the England average. 13 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

Local Authority 40 state secondary schools 2025/26 results

Secondary schools in West Sussex ranked on Attainment 8

40 of 40 schools have published 2026 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2025/26.

Secondary schools in West Sussex ranked on Attainment 8, 2026 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Grade 7+ English & maths	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.2	14%	46%	65%	–	–
1	Downlands Community School Hassocks · Community school	58.3	24%	69%	85%	–	238
2	St Paul's Catholic College Burgess Hill · Academy converter	57.8	17%	68%	86%	–	182
3	St Oscar Romero Catholic School Worthing · Voluntary aided school	57.2	21%	66%	87%	–	185
4 , up 1 place since 2025	Tanbridge House School Horsham · Community school	56.0	28%	58%	77%	–	297
5 , up 1 place since 2025	Bishop Luffa School, Chichester Chichester · Academy converter	55.1	19%	65%	79%	–	237
6 , up 2 places since 2025	Warden Park Secondary Academy Haywards Heath · Academy converter	55.0	24%	60%	79%	–	292
7 , up 3 places since 2025	Millais School Horsham · Community school	54.7	23%	64%	78%	–	236
8 , down 1 place since 2025	St Philip Howard Catholic School Bognor Regis · Academy converter	53.0	15%	56%	78%	–	185
9= , up 1 place since 2025	Oathall Community College Haywards Heath · Community school	51.3	19%	53%	76%	–	257
9= , down 5 places since 2025	Shoreham Academy Shoreham-by-Sea · Academy sponsor led	51.3	18%	57%	75%	–	295
11= , down 2 places since 2025	Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing Worthing · Voluntary controlled school	50.8	16%	56%	74%	–	268
11= , up 7 places since 2025	Weald School, The Billingshurst · Community school	50.8	17%	52%	72%	–	293
13=	Durrington High School Worthing · Academy converter	49.4	13%	51%	73%	–	312
13= , up 10 places since 2025	Imberhorne School East Grinstead · Community school	49.4	14%	50%	76%	–	253
15 , up 11 places since 2025	The Regis School West Sussex · Academy sponsor led	48.9	19%	59%	73%	–	292
16 , down 1 place since 2025	Midhurst Rother College Midhurst · Academy sponsor led	48.8	16%	55%	73%	–	183
17 , down 1 place since 2025	Steyning Grammar School Steyning · Academy converter	48.0	13%	46%	70%	–	350
18= , down 4 places since 2025	Bohunt Horsham Horsham · Free schools	47.2	14%	46%	67%	–	235
18= , up 2 places since 2025	Sackville School East Grinstead · Community school	47.2	11%	45%	69%	–	258
20 , down 8 places since 2025	Hazelwick School Crawley · Academy converter	46.3	7%	39%	65%	–	300
21= , up 1 place since 2025	Oriel High School Crawley · Community school	46.0	11%	43%	63%	–	268
21=	St Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School, Crawley Crawley · Voluntary aided school	46.0	7%	43%	68%	–	183
23= , down 4 places since 2025	Bohunt School Worthing Worthing · Academy sponsor led	45.7	11%	45%	69%	–	185
23= , up 2 places since 2025	The Burgess Hill Academy Burgess Hill · Academy sponsor led	45.7	14%	47%	67%	–	227
25 , down 8 places since 2025	Worthing High School Worthing · Academy converter	45.2	5%	46%	64%	–	206
26 , up 2 places since 2025	The Sir Robert Woodard Academy Sompting · Academy sponsor led	44.6	6%	38%	69%	–	246
27 , up 6 places since 2025	The Gatwick School Crawley · Free schools	44.0	7%	42%	64%	–	111
28 , up 2 places since 2025	St Andrew's CofE High School Worthing · Voluntary aided school	43.7	10%	41%	59%	–	112
29 , down 5 places since 2025	Chichester Free School Chichester · Free schools	43.5	8%	48%	64%	–	128
30 , down 1 place since 2025	Felpham Community College Bognor Regis · Community school	43.2	6%	38%	61%	–	242
31	The Forest School Horsham · Academy converter	43.1	8%	42%	61%	–	196
32 , down 5 places since 2025	Ormiston Six Villages Academy Chichester · Academy sponsor led	42.2	8%	31%	57%	–	134
33 , up 2 places since 2025	Chichester High School Chichester · Academy converter	42.0	7%	39%	59%	–	194
34 , down 2 places since 2025	The Angmering School Littlehampton · Community school	41.8	6%	37%	59%	–	216
35	Ifield Community College Crawley · Academy converter	41.5	8%	35%	55%	–	224
36 , down 2 places since 2025	Bourne Community College Emsworth · Foundation school	40.5	8%	40%	61%	–	119
37 , down 7 places since 2025	Holy Trinity CofE Secondary School, Crawley Crawley · Voluntary aided school	40.2	10%	35%	57%	–	209
38 , down 2 places since 2025	The Academy, Selsey Chichester · Academy sponsor led	38.3	5%	33%	46%	–	94
39 , down 1 place since 2025	Thomas Bennett Community College Crawley · Academy converter	37.4	5%	28%	52%	–	191
40 , down 3 places since 2025	The Littlehampton Academy Littlehampton · Academy sponsor led	36.3	3%	33%	54%	–	241

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

Under each rank: the change since the 2025 table, in places gained (+) or lost (−). No figure means the rank is unchanged or the school had no ranked 2025 result.

Independent schools in West 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
Ardingly College Haywards Heath · Other independent school	2.9	0%	584
Burgess Hill Girls Burgess Hill · Other independent school	37.8	0%	69
Christ's Hospital Horsham · Other independent school	10.6	0%	130
Educate U Worthing · Other independent school	4.0	0%	9
Farlington School Horsham · Other independent school	12.1	1%	75
Great Ballard School Chichester · Other independent school	31.7	0%	11
Hurstpierpoint College Hassocks · Other independent school	16.1	0%	199
Lancing College Lancing · Other independent school	36.0	0%	131
Our Lady of Sion School West Sussex · Other independent school	32.4	0%	53
Seaford College Other independent school	30.6	0%	136
Shoreham College Other independent school	56.1	75%	40
Slindon College Arundel · Other independent school	19.3	20%	20
Worth School Crawley · Other independent school	22.7	0%	129

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 2026 was 46.2.

Grade 7+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching the top grades, 7 to 9, in both; grade 5+ is the "strong pass"; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". The DfE stopped publishing EBacc entry and the EBacc average point score from the 2025/26 results, so that column is empty for 2026.

Progress 8 is not shown: the DfE published no Progress 8 for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021, the baseline it is measured from. 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 West Sussex on our composite score

West Sussex GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in West Sussex ranked on Attainment 8

Independent schools in West Sussex with published GCSE results

More about schools in West Sussex

West Sussex GCSE results: common questions