Brighton Aldridge Community Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 23 April 2025

The school provides a welcoming environment for pupils. It is ambitious for all, setting challenging expectations. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. Most work hard to meet those expectations and to be ready for the next step in their lives and learning. Pupils have access to a wide range of subjects to build important skills and develop their interests. They like the broad sporting opportunities in the main school and the sixth form. This includes links to Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, Sussex Cricket and the Russell Martin Academy, which feed into the school's sporting academies. The school offers many extra-curricular options. Pupils value the 'BACA 100' list of things to do at the school. Very strong links with the local community extend well beyond sport, for example giving pupils opportunities to work with employers in the city. Close support for pupils' welfare is an important feature of school life. Pupils feel safe. The school goes to great lengths to ensure pupils have a trusted adult. Pupils say they are confident to talk with staff if they have any concerns. Effective guidance for those who require help to behave well means they usually get back on track. Parents are very positive about the improvements in their children's experiences at the school.

What the school should improve

• At times, teachers do not check that pupils have fully understood new learning effectively. This means uncertainties are not always remedied for pupils and their achievement is not as strong as it could be. The school should make sure that assessment processes are fully effective in identifying gaps in pupils' knowledge so that teachers can address them.
• On occasions, teachers do not reflect the best practice in the school by adapting activities to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. As a result, when this happens, pupils do not learn as effectively as they could. Leaders should ensure the strong practice evident in the school in making adaptations is the norm across the school.
• Although the school has taken a range of effective actions to improve pupils' attendance, it does not consistently identify pupils at risk of poor attendance early enough. Preventative work, therefore, is not consistently targeted to head off the problem before attendance becomes a concern. The school should focus more sharply on early identification of issues with pupils' attendance to trigger support even more swiftly.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)