Willingdon Community School

School overview

Willingdon Community School is a secondary school serving Eastbourne, East Sussex, classified by the DfE as a community school. It has 1,093 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 45.0, broadly in line with the national average of 46. That is down 2.9 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it around the middle of secondary schools nationally.

48% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, in line with the national average of about 45%. 71% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Competition for places is real here - 79% of first-choice applicants were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026 (248 first choices for 206 places). The council's own allocation figures show the last child offered a place for 2026 lived 3.27 miles away in a straight line — that distance is not a fixed catchment and moves each year. After Year 11, 89% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 7.5%. There are about 18.7 pupils per teacher. Willingdon Community School does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.