Education in Sussex and why we need the charity sector

In September 2024 we launched Reaching Potential, our latest report in the Sussex Uncovered series. These reports give a broad picture of the facts across Sussex around our different funding priorities.

The Reaching Potential report highlights the challenges faced by communities in Sussex, compared to the regional and national picture. It specifically focuses on some of the issues preventing people – especially young people – from achieving their full potential and features some of the charities and groups we support who work in this area.

In the Reaching Potential report we identified three critical areas:

Education attainment and participation

Pupils in Sussex perform below national averages at Key Stage 2, with 11 of 13 Local Authorities showing lower attainment in reading, writing, and maths. Eastbourne records the poorest performance, with fewer than half meeting expected standards. At GCSE stage Sussex also underperforms, against the South East and national averages, with Hastings showing the weakest outcomes. Crawley, Arun, Eastbourne and Rother similarly fall short across key metrics, including GCSE grades and attainment scores.

Further education and apprenticeships

Apprenticeship participation and achievement rates for under-19s in Sussex are below the South East and national averages. Additionally, young people aged 19-24 are less likely to engage in apprenticeships, community learning, or further education compared to their peers across England.

Pupil absences

There is a clear link between absence and attainment. Persistent absence increased significantly post-Covid but slightly improved from 2021/22 to 2022/23. Secondary schools face higher persistent absence rates, particularly among girls in Brighton & Hove, while boys are more likely to be persistently absent at primary school.

A graph showing peaks of school absences since 2018/2019

"Without this programme I would be a lot less aspirational. I think it has made such a big difference it’s hard to put into words. They helped me look at life in a more holistic, authentic way - not just academic. Sometimes things happen that are beyond your control. Being able to respond positively to those changes is what matters. The biggest thing is breaking that wall between what I thought I needed to be like to do these."

Student at Villiers Park

Read the full case study from Villiers Park.

Educational inequalities and disadvantaged groups

The report highlights disparities for pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and other disadvantaged groups.

Pupils with SEN

Sussex has a higher proportion of pupils with SEN than regional and national averages, particularly in Speech, Language, and Communication needs. Educational outcomes for SEN pupils in Sussex are below national standards, with boys performing worse than girls.

A table listing types of SEND needs

 "J is a young person with SEN who has struggled in recent times with mental health issues. To help address these challenges, J joined Amaze as a volunteer to help run the peer support sessions. J’s mental wellbeing began to improve and through this voluntary work discovered he had a talent for youth work and the advocacy of young people with SEN."

Member of staff, Amaze Sussex

Continue reading J's story from Amaze.

Disadvantaged communities

Children eligible for Free School Meals (FSM), non-English speakers, and young carers face significant educational barriers. Sussex has a higher proportion of Children in Need than England, with Brighton & Hove having the highest rates. Parental mental health issues are the leading reason for Children in Need assessments, often linked to higher persistent absences, exclusions, and suspensions. FSM-eligible pupils perform below South East and national averages at both Key Stages 2 and GCSE.

Language barriers

Sussex has a higher proportion of non-English speakers than the South East, although lower than the national average. Crawley has the highest rates of pupils with a first language other than English, exceeding the national average, and these pupils tend to perform worse at Key Stage 2 and GCSE stage than their peers in the South East or nationally.

Employment and jobs opportunities

Employment challenges in Sussex stem from poor transport links and a lack of large urban centres. East Sussex has lower job density (60.74 jobs per 100 working-age population versus 77.86 for England) and longer travel times to large employment centres (39 minutes compared to England’s 16 minutes). Hastings has the second-lowest job density in Sussex and the longest travel time to major employment hubs (55 minutes).

Small businesses dominate East Sussex, with fewer large employers compared to the South East and England. Horsham, Rother and Wealden have the highest proportion of small businesses, while Crawley has the highest proportion of large businesses.

Adult skills and employment

Unemployment rates are higher among those with no or low qualifications. Crawley and Hastings have the highest unemployment among individuals with no qualifications, and Brighton & Hove has the highest unemployment rates across all skill levels.

"Coming to People Matter made a huge contribution to my newfound confidence. I became excited about looking for work and about the future, because they were so helpful and made the most daunting, seem easier, with supportive and helpful discussions, and I was able to engage with someone on my own level."

A beneficiary at People Matter Trust

Read the full story from People Matter Trust.

See more of our case studies or watch our Reaching Potential video below:

How can you help?

Although the findings of the report might seem grim, we know it’s not all bad news. In Sussex we have an amazing charity sector working hard who need our help. Together, we can help pave the way for a fairer and more equal future for as many as possible.

Join us to make a difference and donate to our Reaching Potential Fund. Contact our Philanthropy team at 01273 490 440 or email jackie@sussexcommunityfoundation.org.

“The report starkly demonstrates the challenges that our communities in Sussex are facing. Everyone should be entitled to reach their potential at every stage of life. We have a long way to go towards that, but there are many brilliant local charities that are doing everything possible to help people be the best they can be.”

Kevin Richmond
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CEO, Sussex Community Foundation

Reaching Potential: OCSI's work with the Foundation to understand the challenges in Sussex

Sussex Community Foundation commissioned OCSI’s (Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion) research team to assist with their 'Sussex Uncovered' series, which highlights the challenges Sussex faces, bringing data-driven insight.

Reaching Potential is the latest report in the series. It aims to support the grassroots charities and community groups that are helping communities to develop their skills and confidence, overcoming barriers to learning whilst improving opportunities for marginalised groups in deprived areas.

It builds on the previous report on Tackling Poverty which highlighted issues of poverty and social care challenges. 

Methodology

We analysed and evaluated data under seven key themes identified through discussions with the Foundation about their strategic priorities for Sussex:

Due to a lack of up-to-date, open-source data on education, the report primarily focuses on data from the Department for Education (DfE) School Census which captures detailed information relating to characteristics and attainment levels of pupils who attend maintained schools. One limitation with this source is that data is not available below Local Authority level due to privacy concerns, data suppression policies and the statistical unreliability of small sample sizes. 

As such, unlike the Tackling Poverty report where we were able to aggregate data from small neighbourhoods to major towns and rural areas in Sussex, this report primarily analyses data from larger areas (Local Authorities and above). Where possible, we have included data from the 2021 Census to provide a greater insight into issues faced by particular local areas.

Key findings

The majority of areas in Sussex are underperforming at Key Stage 2, with some areas experiencing low rates of attainment, resulting in lower rates of continued education

Most areas in Sussex underperform at Key Stage 2, with 11 of 13 Local Authorities below the national average of 59.9% for reading, writing, and maths. Eastbourne performs the worst, with only 49.2% meeting the standard. Hastings also shows the poorest outcomes at Key Stage 4, with the lowest scores in GCSEs, Attainment 8, and Progress 8. Subsequently, young adults in Sussex are less likely to enter higher education, with Hastings and Adur showing particularly low participation rates of 27% and 29%, compared to the national average of 40%.

Educational inequalities persist into adulthood, with high proportions of adults lacking qualifications in disadvantaged areas. However, some of the most educationally disadvantaged communities have seen greater improvements in adult skill levels over the last 10 years

Many communities in Sussex show high rates of adults without qualifications. Hastings (20.1%), Arun (19.7%), Adur (19.5%), Rother (18.9%), and Eastbourne (18.4%) exceed the national average of 18.1%. However, Adur reduced the proportion of adults without qualifications by 6.1 percentage points from 2011 to 2021, and Hastings saw a notable increase in adults with degree-level qualifications.

Pupils in educationally disadvantaged groups experience lower attainment (ie achievement of specific academic standards) compared to similar groups elsewhere in England

Pupils eligible for Free school meals, disadvantaged pupils, pupils with English as an additional language and pupils with Special Educational Needs are less likely to meet expected standards in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2 in Sussex than across the South East region and England as a whole.

Job opportunities are fewer, and access to employment is more difficult in communities with poorer educational outcomes

East Sussex has lower jobs density (60.7 jobs as a ratio of the working age population) compared to the national average of 77.9. Residents also face longer travel times to employment centres, averaging 39 minutes compared to 16 minutes nationally. Additionally, only 30.7% of jobs in East Sussex are high-skilled, compared to 36.6% across the South East.

To explore these challenges in more detail, you can read the Reaching Potential report here, or the executive summary here.

Aaron Henderson
Communications Officer, OCSI

Find out more about OCSI’s research services

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