Hazel Court School
Hazel Court School is a special academy in Eastbourne for boys and girls aged 11 to 19. It has 135 pupils. About 49 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2024.
Larkspur Drive, Eastbourne, BN23 8EJ01323 465720thesouthfieldtrust.comMr David Leggett headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 25 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 25 November 2022 | Ungraded | School remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
14 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. That usually means the year group was too small to publish without identifying children.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to East Sussex council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with autism, moderate learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in East Sussex with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (72), language and communications needs (21), Severe learning difficulty (12), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (11), Other difficulty or disability (7), Moderate learning difficulty (5).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 135 | 129 | 124 | 120 | 113 | 99 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 42% | 40% | 40% | 38% | 30% | 33% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 9% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 6% | 8% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 89.1% 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 | 10.9% | 10.9% | 9.2% | 17.7% | 26.1% | 10.7% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 9.5% | 10.6% | 9.2% | 17.4% | 25.5% | 10.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.4% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.6% | 0.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 29.1% | 35.1% | 30.9% | 50.0% | 78.0% | 33.3% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 6 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 100% | 92% | 93% | 100% |
| Education | 100% | 92% | 93% | 100% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 0% | 8% | 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 special 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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shinewater Primary School | Academy | 350 m | 393 | Report card 2026 | 17 | Compare |
| Stone Cross School | Council | 460 m | 419 | Good 2023 | 40 | Compare |
| The Turing School | Academy | 470 m | 771 | Report card 2026 | 2 | Compare |
| West Rise Primary School and Nursery | Council | 0.9 miles | 607 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Heron Park Primary Academy | Academy | 1.0 miles | 303 | Good 2022 | 6 | Compare |
| Hankham Primary School | Council | 1.1 miles | 107 | Good 2023 | 22 | Compare |
| Oakwood Primary Academy | Academy | 1.2 miles | 300 | Good 2022 | 18 | Compare |
| The Eastbourne Academy | Academy | 1.2 miles | 776 | Report card 2026 | 7 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Hazel Court School a good school?
Hazel Court School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it outstanding at its last inspection in June 2024.
What is Hazel Court School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Hazel Court School outstanding at its last full inspection on 25 June 2024.
How many pupils does Hazel Court School have?
135 pupils aged 11 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026.
What is attendance like at Hazel Court School?
Pupils were in school 89.1% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 29% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Hazel Court School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism, moderate learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Hazel Court School have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Larkspur Drive, Eastbourne, BN23 8EJ
- Telephone
- 01323 465720
- Website
- www.thesouthfieldtrust.com
- Headteacher
- Mr David Leggett
- Type of school
- Special academy (Academy special converter, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- The Southfield Trust (4 schools)
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Ward
- Langney
- Constituency
- Eastbourne
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2018 (academy converter)
- URN
- 145254 · LAESTAB 8457032 · UKPRN 10067192
- Formerly
- Hazel Court School
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.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- 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.