The Flagship School
The Flagship School is a special free school in Hastings for boys and girls aged 7 to 16. It has 63 pupils and room for 80. About 59 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted visited in January 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
The Ridge, Hastings, TN34 2AE01424 311023beckmeadtrust.org/flagshipMr Grégoire Godin headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 20 January 2026. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 16 March 2022 | S8 No Formal Designation Visit | Inadequate |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
6 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | East Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 6 | 1 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 6.0 | – | 44.3 | 46.8 |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 17% | – | 43% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 17% | – | 66% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 0.45 | – | 3.91 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 0% | – | 39% | 41% |
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2024
5 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2024 | 2023† | East Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 5 | 6 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | – | 0% | 59% | 62% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | – | 0% | 5% | 8% |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | – | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | – | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | – | 0% | – | – |
| Reading progressReading progress score | – | -19.2 | – | – |
| Maths progressMaths progress score | – | -18.4 | – | – |
† These results are for The Flagship School, the school this one replaced in March 2023. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
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.
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 all schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (34), emotional and mental health (22), language and communications needs (3), Specific learning difficulty (2), Moderate learning difficulty (1), Physical disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 63 | 61 | 50 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 59% | 62% | 56% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 70.7% 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† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 29.3% | 33.8% | 37.3% | 24.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 18.0% | 17.5% | 22.4% | 14.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 11.3% | 16.4% | 14.8% | 10.3% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 60.3% | 64.8% | 64.5% | 60.9% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 63.9 | 72.0 | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for The Flagship School, the school this one replaced in March 2023. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torfield School | Academy | 150 m | 97 | Outstanding 2023 | – | Compare |
| Ark Castledown Primary Academy | Academy | 170 m | 403 | Report card 2025 | 64 | Compare |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School | Academy | 490 m | – | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Dudley Infant Academy | Academy | 690 m | 169 | Good 2019 | 28 | Compare |
| Mulberry Baird Primary | Academy | 770 m | 276 | Requires improvement 2024 | 3 | Compare |
| All Saints CofE Junior Academy | Academy | 970 m | 222 | Good 2023 | 49 | Compare |
| Ark Blacklands Primary Academy | Academy | 0.9 miles | 623 | Outstanding 2023 | 97 | Compare |
| Sandown Primary School and Nursery | Council | 1.2 miles | 472 | Not inspected | 90 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Flagship School a good school?
The Flagship School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from January 2026 rated its teaching as as expected.
What is The Flagship School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 20 January 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.
How good are The Flagship School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 17% 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 6.0, against 46.8 for England.
How many pupils does The Flagship School have?
63 pupils aged 7 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 80 places, so it is 79% full.
What is attendance like at The Flagship School?
Pupils were in school 70.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 60% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about The Flagship School?
65% of the 31 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 65% say their child is happy there. Across England, 84% of parents would recommend their child's school.
Does The Flagship School have a breakfast club?
Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- The Ridge, Hastings, TN34 2AE
- Telephone
- 01424 311023
- Website
- www.beckmeadtrust.org/flagship
- Headteacher
- Mr Grégoire Godin
- Free breakfast club
- Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
- Type of school
- Special free school (Free schools special, free schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 7-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- The Beckmead Trust (12 schools)
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Ward
- Baird
- Constituency
- Hastings and Rye
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 March 2023 (change in status)
- URN
- 149695 · LAESTAB 8457006 · UKPRN 10092098
- Formerly
- The Flagship 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.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2023/24.
- 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.
- Breakfast club: DfE list of schools on the free breakfast club programme.
- 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.