School Chooser

Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School

Primary · ages 4-11MixedChurch of England421 pupilsWorthingWest Sussex
School Chooser Score
70
Above
similar schools
Likely range 51 to 83, so it could be “in line”
Out of 100. Better than 69% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
OfstedGoodConfirmed by Ofsted, November 2023
Reached the expected level at 1173%England 63%
Attendance95.8%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families10%Far fewer than most schools
Places15 spare421 pupils, 436 places
Pupils per teacher25.0School workforce census

Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School is a Church of England school (voluntary aided) in Worthing for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It has 421 pupils and room for 436. About 10 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 70 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 69% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.

Mulberry Lane, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, BN12 4RN01903 241175goringprimary.orgMrs Laura Brockhurst headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

A shorter visit on 8 November 2023 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

63 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1173%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level5%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score107.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score106.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2018 to 2025
2018: 58%58%20182019: 69%69%20192023: 70%70%20232024: 76%76%20242025: 73%73%2025
Since 2018: +15%Declining overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure20252024202320192018West SussexEngland
Pupils tested6359606253
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths73%76%70%69%58%59%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths5%7%18%5%2%6%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score107.0107.0108.0104.0104.0105.6105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score106.0106.0106.0104.0103.0103.9104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score104.0107.0107.0108.0105.0104.1105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard84%86%87%76%72%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard79%80%85%85%75%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)81%81%82%87%77%
Reading progressReading progress score+1.4-0.5-0.9
Maths progressMaths progress score+1.0-0.8-1.5
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged50%0%50%25%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged75%85%74%64%

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.

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 the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
50%75%
Gap 25 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
76%69%
Gap 7 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
17%5%
Gap 12 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

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. As a Church of England school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.

Full421 pupils for 420 places, 2024/25
100% full

The school is full, with 1 more pupils than it has places for. More families apply than can get in, so things like how close you live and whether an older brother or sister is already here decide who gets a place. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.

How places were given out for September 2025.

EntryPlacesApplied at allGot a placeHow far the last child livedSource
2025 Primary606860LA
2024 Primary607260LA
2023 Primary607260LA

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.

Pupils on roll421Census January 2026
Places43697% full
Pupils from low-income families10%10% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English5%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support12%51 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan5%19 pupils with a plan
Average class size30.114 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils36%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)10%£65,100 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls209 / 212
White British pupils81%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 29.8 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 30.3 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (32), Specific learning difficulty (23), emotional and mental health (11), Moderate learning difficulty (2), Other difficulty or disability (1), Physical disability (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll421419428424425422
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals10%10%11%12%10%10%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language5%5%6%5%4%6%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support12%11%10%10%9%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans5%4%4%3%3%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.8% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.8%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school6.8%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils0.72024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.0%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence4.2%4.4%4.8%5.4%2.3%3.8%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.1%3.4%3.7%4.5%1.9%3.0%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.0%1.0%1.1%0.9%0.3%0.8%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence6.8%7.5%9.7%12.3%3.5%7.2%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate0.70.20.00.70.7
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers16.9full-time equivalent, 19 people
Pupils per teacher25.0Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants16.3full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£52,525
Teachers who left in the year14%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher3.82024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£6,135England £7,738. Total £2.6m
Income per pupil£5,740England £7,697. Total £2.4m
Spent on teachers per pupil£2,958England £3,480
Money in reserve9%A healthy amount put by: £212k, £506 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£165kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£6,135spent per pupil

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

Crimes within 500 m19212 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate50 per 1,000 people45% lower than the England average
Typical house price£350,000Worthing
Nearest bus stop180 mMulberry Lane, 13 stops within 500 m

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.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
West Park CofE Primary (Controlled) SchoolChurch of England350 m760Not inspected23Compare
Orchards Infant SchoolAcademy910 m281Requires improvement 20211Compare
Orchards Junior SchoolAcademy940 m496Good 202430Compare
Elm Grove Primary School, WorthingCouncil0.9 miles203Good 202460Compare
English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, WorthingRoman Catholic0.9 miles187Good 202226Compare
Ferring C of E Primary SchoolChurch of England1.0 miles169Good 202230Compare
Hawthorns Primary SchoolAcademy1.0 miles173Requires improvement 202113Compare
The Laurels Primary School, WorthingAcademy1.1 miles193Good 202227Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School 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.

Beats69%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the upper half of its group. Its score of 70 is 12 points above the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 5 · middle 58 · highest 97100

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 70 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 70% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 51 to 83. 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 atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%above
+0.11
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 63 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 2.8 years old
Progress pupils make20%above
+0.07
DfE progress measure; 63 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%below
-0.06
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%above
+0.08
2024/25; 367 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%in line
+0.03
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 63 pupils
What parents say0%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 Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School a good school?

Yes, going by the figures. Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School scores 70 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 69% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 51 to 83, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School good at its last full inspection on 8 November 2023.

How good are Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 73% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 5% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School have?

421 pupils aged 4 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 436 places, so it is 97% full.

Is Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably. The school was full in 2024/25, with 1 more pupils than places. How close you live, and the school's other admissions rules, decide who gets in.

What is attendance like at Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School?

Pupils were in school 95.8% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 7% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School?

The average class had 30.1 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 36% of classes 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
Mulberry Lane, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, BN12 4RN
Telephone
01903 241175
Website
www.goringprimary.org
Headteacher
Mrs Laura Brockhurst
Type of school
Church of England school (voluntary aided) (Voluntary aided school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 4-11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England, Diocese of Chichester
Local authority
West Sussex
Ward
Goring
Constituency
Worthing West
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
126045 · LAESTAB 9383339 · UKPRN 10074291

Where these figures come from