The South Downs School

State-Funded School

the-south-downs-school-east-sussex-south-east

South EastRegion

East SussexLocal Authority

EastbourneConstituency

BN20 8NUPostcode

9.4

Academic Performance

Ofsted

About the School

The South Downs School is a state-funded special for pupils aged 4–11, located in East Sussex, South East.

The school is rated Outstanding by Ofsted. It currently serves 164 pupils. The South Downs School is part of The Southfield Trust.

Ofsted Rating

Safeguarding effective

Rating last maintained

2024

Subject Areas

Leadership &management

Outstanding

Ethnicity

White

80%

Asian

Black

Mixed

Any other group

Unclassified

Pupils

164

Total Pupils

68%Boys

32%Girls

Pupil Characteristics

Free school meals

42%

England average

27%

First language not English

12%

England average

22%

Young carers

England average

0%25%50%75%100%

DfE school census, January 2026.

Key Information

Phase: Special
Age range: 4 – 11
Deprivation band: Deprived
Total pupils: 164
IDACI quintile: 4 (Less deprived)
MAT name: The Southfield Trust

Inspection history

Ofsted has published one graded inspection for this school. The most recent ungraded inspection is shown below.

Standards maintained

Ungraded inspection on 13 November 2024. An ungraded inspection checks whether the existing grade still holds; it does not award a new one.

Read the inspection letter on Ofsted

Report published					Overall
17 Jul 2014	Outstanding	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Outstanding

A grey dot means Ofsted did not report that judgement in the inspection of the day — the sub-judgements shown here were introduced with the 2019 framework.

Ofsted data as at 31 December 2024. A school may have been inspected since, or had an ungraded visit that does not change its grade — check Ofsted’s own record.