Ark Castledown Primary Academy
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Ark Castledown Primary Academy is a sponsored academy in Hastings for boys and girls aged 2 to 11. It has 403 pupils and room for 480. About 52 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 64 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 76% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in November 2025 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Priory Road, Hastings, TN34 3QT01424 444046arkcastledown.orgMiss Rebecca Stewart headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 11 November 2025. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 23 November 2021 | Academy First Section 5 | Good |
Results
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
49 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017† | East Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 49 | 56 | 55 | 59 | 44 | 55 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 78% | 75% | 75% | 73% | 73% | 27% | 61% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | 8% | 7% | 4% | 5% | 0% | 0% | 6% | 8% |
| Reading scoreReading average scaled score | 104.0 | 106.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 | 105.0 | 98.0 | 105.5 | 105.6 |
| Maths scoreMaths average scaled score | 104.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 | 97.0 | 103.9 | 104.6 |
| Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score | 103.0 | 102.0 | 101.0 | 101.0 | 102.0 | 98.0 | 103.5 | 105.2 |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | 80% | 80% | 76% | 75% | 84% | 47% | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | 82% | 82% | 78% | 85% | 80% | 35% | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | 84% | 88% | 82% | 88% | 86% | 42% | – | – |
| Reading progressReading progress score | – | – | -2.2 | +0.9 | +2.4 | -2.6 | – | – |
| Maths progressMaths progress score | – | – | -2.5 | +1.6 | +2.7 | -4.7 | – | – |
| Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged | 83% | 71% | 71% | 70% | 70% | 21% | – | – |
| Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged | 64% | 79% | 80% | 81% | 76% | 41% | – | – |
There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.
† These results are for Castledown Primary School, the school this one replaced in September 2017. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 3 of the 4 gaps are smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At the end of primary school, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
About 42 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have grown by 8% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place (44 offers for 60 places). 41 families put it down as their first choice and 42 of them got in (102%).
| Entry | Places | Put it first | Applied at all | Got a place | First choices who got in | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | 60 | 41 | 81 | 44 | 102% | – all offered | LA |
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 31 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for primary schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 27.7 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 25.8 (England 27.3).
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (45), emotional and mental health (16), Autistic spectrum disorder (12), Other difficulty or disability (4), Moderate learning difficulty (3), Physical disability (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 403 | 396 | 415 | 387 | 363 | 366 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 52% | 55% | 53% | 54% | 58% | 54% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 22% | 25% | 21% | 16% | 14% | 15% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 21% | 20% | 24% | 23% | 10% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 93.6% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 6.4% | 6.7% | 5.9% | 6.0% | 4.5% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.5% | 4.6% | 4.5% | 4.5% | 3.0% | 2.8% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.0% | 2.2% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 2.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 19.3% | 19.0% | 15.9% | 17.4% | 13.4% | 16.0% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.4 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School | Academy | 430 m | – | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Mulberry Baird Primary | Academy | 630 m | 276 | Requires improvement 2024 | 3 | Compare |
| Dudley Infant Academy | Academy | 640 m | 169 | Good 2019 | 28 | Compare |
| All Saints CofE Junior Academy | Academy | 900 m | 222 | Good 2023 | 49 | Compare |
| Ark Blacklands Primary Academy | Academy | 0.8 miles | 623 | Outstanding 2023 | 97 | Compare |
| Sandown Primary School and Nursery | Council | 1.1 miles | 472 | Not inspected | 90 | Compare |
| St Paul's Church of England Academy | Academy | 1.2 miles | 634 | Good 2024 | 59 | Compare |
| St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 201 | Good 2024 | – | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Ark Castledown Primary Academy with the 49 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 64 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 64% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 45 to 80. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 25% | in line | +0.02 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 49 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | well above | +0.24 | Ofsted report card, 0.8 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | below | -0.15 | DfE progress measure; 49 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | 0.00 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.08 | 2024/25; 357 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | well above | +0.11 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 49 pupils |
| What parents say | 5% | above | +0.03 | Ofsted's Parent View survey, allowing for how many parents replied; 31 responses |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Ark Castledown Primary Academy a good school?
It is about average. Ark Castledown Primary Academy scores 64 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 76% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 45 to 80, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Ark Castledown Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 11 November 2025 it rated teaching as strong, achievement as strong, behaviour and attendance as strong, leadership as strong.
How good are Ark Castledown Primary Academy's SATs results?
In summer 2025, 78% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 8% went further and reached the higher level.
How many pupils does Ark Castledown Primary Academy have?
403 pupils aged 2 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 480 places, so it is 84% full.
Is Ark Castledown Primary Academy oversubscribed?
Probably not. 42 places were empty in 2024/25 (10% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Ark Castledown Primary Academy?
Pupils were in school 93.6% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 19% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about Ark Castledown Primary Academy?
97% of the 31 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 94% say their child is happy there. Across England, 87% of parents would recommend their child's school.
How big are the classes at Ark Castledown Primary Academy?
The average class had 25.2 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Priory Road, Hastings, TN34 3QT
- Telephone
- 01424 444046
- Website
- www.arkcastledown.org
- Headteacher
- Miss Rebecca Stewart
- Type of school
- Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 2-11, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- ARK Schools (48 schools)
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Ward
- Tressell
- Constituency
- Hastings and Rye
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2017 (new provision)
- URN
- 144083 · LAESTAB 8452025 · UKPRN 10064728
- Formerly
- Castledown Primary School
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2024/25.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: East Sussex council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.