Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing
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Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing is a Church of England school (voluntary controlled) in Worthing for girls aged 11 to 16. It has 1,334 pupils and room for 1,350. About 14 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 82 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 60% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2024.
Selborne Road, Worthing, BN11 2JX01903 233835davison.w-sussex.sch.ukMrs Jayne Lewis-Tutt headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 4 June 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Outstanding overall.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 29 March 2023 | Ungraded | School remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
258 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | West Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 258 | 257 | 259 | 255 | 194 | 224 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 52.1 | 51.3 | 54.4 | 54.7 | 56.4 | 46.8 | 46.6 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | +0.34 | +0.45 | +0.23 | +0.60 | +0.19 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 57% | 60% | 62% | 60% | 60% | 42% | 46% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 78% | 77% | 79% | 75% | 78% | 64% | 68% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 4.33 | 4.24 | 4.55 | 4.61 | 4.84 | 3.92 | 4.10 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 23% | 20% | 24% | 29% | 38% | 42% | 38% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 35.9 | 37.6 | 36.4 | 43.9 | 40.3 | 34.5 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 55.1 | 54.0 | 56.3 | 56.5 | 58.8 | 49.6 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 29.0 | 32.8 | 34.5 | 30.7 | 27.4 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 67.3 | 69.7 | 70.3 | 67.1 | 60.4 | – | – |
Subjects
Results came out for 26 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Strongest subjects
Subjects that did worse than the England average: Computer Science (38% here, 56% across England), Physics (73% here, 82% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 255 | 29% | 67% | 79% | 54% | 571 of 3,210 |
| Mathematics | 254 | 19% | 62% | 84% | 53% | 835 of 3,211 |
| English Literature | 251 | 29% | 70% | 82% | 58% | 632 of 3,202 |
| Combined Science | 208 | 15% | 48% | 70% | 36% | 656 of 3,084 |
| Religious Studies | 176 | 35% | 70% | 83% | 60% | 638 of 1,825 |
| Spanish | 84 | 30% | 66% | 81% | 54% | 606 of 1,941 |
| History | 76 | 30% | 62% | 76% | 52% | 850 of 3,126 |
| Art and Design | 65 | 35% | 82% | 92% | 58% | 415 of 2,818 |
| Geography | 56 | 29% | 66% | 75% | 51% | 583 of 3,116 |
| Social Studies | 53 | 40% | 77% | 85% | 54% | 119 of 1,043 |
| French | 49 | 37% | 92% | 98% | 60% | 144 of 1,974 |
| Biology | 46 | 35% | 76% | 87% | 82% | 1,805 of 2,570 |
| Chemistry | 45 | 36% | 80% | 84% | 81% | 1,570 of 2,537 |
| Physics | 45 | 22% | 73% | 91% | 82% | 1,854 of 2,546 |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 43 | 33% | 72% | 81% | 52% | 205 of 1,098 |
| Media / Film / TV | 43 | 47% | 77% | 93% | 55% | 74 of 580 |
| Music | 35 | 46% | 89% | 97% | 61% | 89 of 395 |
| Statistics | 31 | 87% | 100% | 100% | 51% | 14 of 375 |
| Physical Education | 24 | 17% | 50% | 79% | 56% | 938 of 1,559 |
| Drama | 24 | 46% | 88% | 92% | 60% | 119 of 844 |
| Computer Science | 21 | 14% | 38% | 48% | 56% | 1,384 of 1,861 |
| Dance | 17 | 71% | 94% | 100% | 58% | – |
| Design & Technology | 11 | 64% | 82% | 82% | 50% | – |
| Engineering | 9 | 11% | 56% | 67% | 46% | – |
| Other Modern Languages | 8 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 49% | – |
| Other Sciences | 6 | 0% | 50% | 83% | 67% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
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. None of the gaps is 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 GCSE, 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
Open to all. There is no entrance test. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.
How places were given out for September 2026.
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.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Specific learning difficulty (114), emotional and mental health (67), language and communications needs (58), Autistic spectrum disorder (30), Moderate learning difficulty (14), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (9).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 1,334 | 1,328 | 1,320 | 1,295 | 1,299 | 1,315 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 14% | 14% | 13% | 11% | 10% | 9% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 6% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 10% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 18% | 16% | 12% | 11% | 11% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 3% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 91.7% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 8.3% | 8.2% | 8.3% | 8.2% | 4.7% | 4.3% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 5.6% | 5.9% | 6.2% | 6.7% | 3.8% | 3.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.7% | 2.3% | 2.1% | 1.5% | 0.9% | 1.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 21.9% | 21.4% | 21.0% | 23.9% | 11.3% | 9.6% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 5.7 | 6.5 | 7.2 | 3.4 | 1.4 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 259 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 84%, compared with 96% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 95% | 96% | 95% | 97% |
| Education | 90% | 92% | 91% | 95% |
| Apprenticeship | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| Work | 2% | 3% | 2% | 1% |
| Not in education, work or training | 4% | 2% | 4% | 3% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary 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 secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Andrew's CofE High School | Church of England | 850 m | 780 | Good 2023 | 39 | Compare |
| Bohunt School Worthing | Academy | 0.9 miles | 900 | Good 2023 | 49 | Compare |
| Worthing High School | Academy | 1.1 miles | 1,050 | Not inspected | 57 | Compare |
| The Sir Robert Woodard Academy | Academy | 1.6 miles | 1,427 | Report card 2026 | 45 | Compare |
| Durrington High School | Academy | 2.3 miles | 1,572 | Good 2022 | 63 | Compare |
| St Oscar Romero Catholic School | Roman Catholic | 3.4 miles | 1,144 | No overall grade 2025 | 93 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing with the 47 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 47 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 82 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 82% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 77 to 86. 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 | 20% | above | +0.12 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 258 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | well above | +0.34 | Ofsted grade, 2.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | above | +0.15 | DfE progress measure; 258 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | -0.02 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | +0.03 | 2024/25; 1,375 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | in line | -0.02 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 258 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | above | +0.04 | 259 pupils |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
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 Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing a good school?
Yes, going by the figures. Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing scores 82 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 60% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 77 to 86, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing outstanding at its last full inspection on 4 June 2024.
How good are Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 57% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 52.1, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about half a grade ahead of children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing have?
1,334 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,350 places, so it is 99% full. It is a girls' school.
Is Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing oversubscribed?
Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.
What is attendance like at Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing?
Pupils were in school 91.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 22% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing?
The average class had 26.9 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 27% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Davison Church of England High School for Girls, Worthing have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship; 95% of 2022/23 leavers were still in education, work or training six months on.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Selborne Road, Worthing, BN11 2JX
- Telephone
- 01903 233835
- Website
- www.davison.w-sussex.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Jayne Lewis-Tutt
- Type of school
- Church of England school (voluntary controlled) (Voluntary controlled school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Girls
- Religious character
- Church of England, Diocese of Chichester
- Local authority
- West Sussex
- Ward
- Selden
- Constituency
- East Worthing and Shoreham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 126093 · LAESTAB 9384502 · UKPRN 10001871
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
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.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- 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, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: West Sussex council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2023, 2024, 2025, 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.