Carlton Hill Primary School

About Carlton Hill Primary School

Carlton Hill Primary School’s most recent Key Stage 2 results put it well ahead of the local authority average for Brighton and Hove. While the LA average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined sits at 59%, Carlton Hill achieved 70% — a clear eleven-point gap. That places the school 6th out of 40 primary schools in the borough, comfortably inside the top 15%. It’s a strong showing for a school that also has a higher-than-average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 34.9%, suggesting outcomes are not simply a reflection of intake. The school’s reading scores are particularly notable: 90% of pupils met the expected standard and the average scaled score was 107, compared with 105 in maths. Higher-attaining pupils are less common here — only 7% reached the higher standard across all three subjects — but the school’s overall performance is solidly above the local norm.

Digging into the detail, Carlton Hill’s maths results are slightly above the national average, with an average scaled score of 105 and 83% of pupils reaching the expected standard. Writing is a relative weak spot: 77% met the expected standard, and only 17% achieved the higher standard. Reading, by contrast, is the strongest subject, with 20% reaching the higher standard. The school has no published progress scores, so it’s hard to say how much value it adds from starting points, but the raw attainment figures are respectable. Ofsted last inspected in January 2024 and confirmed the school remains Good, a rating it has held consistently since at least 2012. The leadership and management were also graded Good. There are no outstanding primaries particularly close by — the nearest is Hove Junior School, 4.3 km away — so for families in the immediate area, Carlton Hill is a strong, reliable option.

The school is oversubscribed by a wide margin: for 2025/26 entry, there were 135 applications for 30 places, a ratio of 4.5 to one. Only 29 of the 42 first-preference families got a place, so securing a spot is competitive. Facilities include a Forest School, playing fields, a sports hall, and a chapel, plus clubs ranging from gardening to film and drama. The school supports a broad range of SEND needs, including dyslexia, speech and language difficulties, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 215 pupils against a capacity of 218, the school is essentially full. This is a school that delivers above-average academic outcomes in a tight urban setting, and it will suit families who want a well-regarded local primary with strong reading results and a wide extracurricular offer, but who are prepared for the challenge of getting in.

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