Coombe Road Primary School

About Coombe Road Primary School

Coombe Road Primary School is a state primary in Brighton and Hove, one of 48 primary schools in the local authority. It ranks 37th among them, placing it in the bottom half of the LA table. The top-performing peers in the area are Bilingual Primary School - Brighton & Hove, Hove Junior School, and Stanford Junior School, all of which score significantly higher on the same ranking metric. The school is led by headteacher Stuart Scrase and has a mixed intake of 175 pupils, well within its capacity of 210. A notable feature of its local landscape is the high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals: 52.6 per cent, which is far above the national average and suggests the school serves a community with considerable economic disadvantage. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Westdene Primary School, 3.9 kilometres away.

Academically, Coombe Road’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated it Good overall, with Good marks for leadership and management and early years provision. This represents an improvement from its previous graded inspection in 2017, when it was judged Requires Improvement. At Key Stage 2 in 2023/24, 40 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with the LA average of 59 per cent. In individual subjects, 60 per cent met the expected standard in reading, 50 per cent in maths, and 40 per cent in writing. Higher attainment was limited: 10 per cent achieved a higher score in reading, 20 per cent in maths, and none in writing. Average scores were 102 in reading and 99 in maths. Nationally, the school ranks in the bottom 10 per cent of primaries on the combined expected standard metric, and in the bottom 8 per cent within the South East region.

The school offers a range of facilities including a library, music rooms, an ICT suite, a sensory room, and a chapel. Sports provision covers netball, dance, cross country and tennis, while clubs extend to drama, choir, eco club, science club, coding and film club. SEND support is well-documented, with provisions for specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: 78 applications were received for 29 places, with 31 first-preference applications and 29 first-preference offers, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.69. This suggests strong local demand, likely from families who value its inclusive ethos and the progress it has made since its previous Requires Improvement rating. It may particularly suit families seeking a smaller, community-focused primary with strong SEND support and a wide range of extracurricular activities.

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