Firle Church of England Primary School, Lewes
Data last updated 11 Sept 2026
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 1 year agoOverall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted Insights
What This School Does Well
Firle is a nurturing, caring school where children thrive emotionally and develop strong confidence. Pupils behave exceptionally well and are supported to become kind, thoughtful members of the community. The school provides a broad, enriched curriculum with plenty of trips and visits that bring learning to life.
Key Strengths
- Pupils are very happy with a strong culture of care and nurture where they feel known individually by staff
- Excellent behaviour and attitudes across the school, with highly effective support for pupils who need additional help
- Strong provision for personal development with a broad, enriched curriculum including trips and visits
- Good progress in mathematics and well-organised, ambitious curriculums in other subjects
Areas for Improvement
- Early reading and phonics teaching is not consistently accurate or effective, with not all staff having the expertise needed
- Writing curriculum does not support pupils well enough, with no clear approach to handwriting and sentence formation
- Leadership does not maintain sharp enough oversight of education quality or identify and address weaknesses in staff expertise
- Early years provision needs further strengthening with staff requiring more support in subject knowledge
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective with clear procedures in place to keep pupils safe.
Extracurricular Activities
End of year school productions, trips and visits within the local area and beyond
Firle Church of England Primary School is a small primary school where pupils are very happy and behaviour is excellent, but the quality of education requires improvement due to weaknesses in early reading and writing instruction.
At a Glance
20.8%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
26 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View - % who strongly agree or agree
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2025/26KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has declined from 64% to 43%. Maths has declined from 50% to 43%. Writing has remained stable at around 43%.
Class Sizes
18.0
Avg class size
16.0
KS2
3
Total classes
2024/25 academic year
Getting There
Bus Stops
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
50%
Available places
53 pupils
105 capacity
52 spare places available
Area Demand Pressure - Lewes
Based on MHCLG housing supply data for Lewes
Admissions Demand - East Sussex
Places available
5,643
Applications
4,708
Got 1st preference
91.2%
Got preferred school
98.0%
Primary admissions across East Sussex (2025/26)
Inspection History(8)
House Prices
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SEN Provision
How many pupils have special educational needs, what types of support the school provides, and how it compares to similar schools.
Pupil Demographics
The school's pupil mix - ethnicity breakdown, free school meals eligibility, and English as an additional language. Useful context when evaluating school fit.
Teachers & Staff
Teacher qualification rates, pupil-to-teacher ratio, staff turnover, and salary data. Shows how well-resourced and stable the school's workforce is.
School Funding
Annual funding per pupil, total budget, pupil premium grants, and how the school's resources compare to similar schools nationally.
Pupil Absence2024/25
8.96455%
Overall absence
26.78571%
Persistent absence
56
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
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