Durrington High School

About Durrington High School

Durrington High School is a large, mixed secondary in Worthing that currently educates 1,606 pupils, just shy of its stated capacity of 1,650. That near-full roll is no accident: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 574 applications for 323 places, making it officially oversubscribed with a ratio of 1.78 applicants per place. Of those, 283 were first-preference applications, and exactly 283 first-preference offers were made, meaning every family who put it top got a spot. The school’s percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals sits at 19.5%, a figure worth noting against the national secondary average of around 23%, suggesting a slightly less deprived intake than the country as a whole. The headship is shared between Mr Shaun Allison and Mr Chris Woodcock, and the school has no sixth form, no nursery provision, and is non-denominational in character.

Academically, Durrington performs well above the local authority average. Its Progress 8 score of 0.29 is classified as ‘Above average’ nationally, and compares very favourably with the West Sussex LA average of 0.03. That puts the school 9th out of 42 state secondaries in the county, and 3rd among the six schools in Worthing itself. The Attainment 8 score of 47.6 is solid, and 69.6% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, though the figure drops to 46.5% at the stronger grade 5 threshold. The EBacc average point score is 3.98, with 17.6% of pupils entering the EBacc combination of subjects. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in March 2022, the school was rated Good across all five categories: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and overall effectiveness. That continues a pattern of Good ratings stretching back to at least 2010.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a swimming pool, theatre, music rooms, astro turf, sports hall, tennis courts, and a library. Sports on offer include cricket, dance, cross country, basketball, netball, rugby, and badminton, while clubs range from Model UN and debate to orchestra, coding, and art club. SEND provision is extensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families weighing up options, Durrington is a strong, well-subscribed local comprehensive with academic outcomes comfortably above the county average, a full range of facilities, and a clear record of consistent Good Ofsted grades. Its lack of a sixth form means pupils will need to plan for post-16 transfer elsewhere.

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