Ages 
A friendly, go-getting school with a strong community feel that certainly lives up to its impressive local reputation. Recent changes are surely for the better. Just ask the parents, like we did: ‘The best school around.’ ‘Everyone finds their gang.’. ‘A very genuine place.’ ‘My child is thriving and has a massive group of friends’. Locally, this really is the school to beat and Londoners, take note: Hurst is a must-visit.
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Unlike other websites, schools can't pay to be included in The Good Schools Guide. This means our review of this school is independent, critical and fair, and written with parents' best interests at heart.
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Overview & data
- Pupil numbers
- 1,315 ·
- Sixth form numbers
- 360 ·
- Offers boarding
- Yes ·
- Religion
- Anglican
- Fees
- Day: £14,070 - £36,885; Boarding: £46,770 - £47,205 pa
- Local authority
- West Sussex County Council
- Area guides
Headteacher
Head of College
Dominic Mott
Since 2024, Dominic Mott MA (Cantab). Attended Sandhurst and became an army officer before studying Spanish at Queen’s College, Cambridge. After a short stint in the City where he realised investment banking ‘clashed with [his] values’ and he had a
Entrance
Not aggressively selective but recruits better than average. Those joining from outside take ISEB pre-test in year 6 for year 9 entry and receive unconditional offers. Hurst prep year 8s make up less than half of year 9: there is a big intake from
- Open days
- March and May
Exit
Less than a handful leave the prep for other local senior schools. Just under a quarter depart after GCSEs. Rest primarily to Russell Group universities: Exeter, Bristol, Durham, Newcastle, Bath, Loughborough and Cardiff popular. Five to Oxbridge in
Latest results
In 2025, 79 per cent at 9-7 GCSE; 62 per cent A*/A at A-level (88 per cent (A*-B)
A levels or equivalent - Average points score (2024)
What is this?
These figures tell you the average grade and average points that pupils achieved in their academic qualifications. A maximum of 60 points are available for a grade A* at A level.
Teaching & learning
A true through-school, there is strong collaboration between prep and senior school. The head of senior prep spent years teaching further up the school and focuses on helping younger pupils build the skills needed for senior school.
Classes of
- Qualifications taken in 2024
- A level
- BTEC
- EPQ
- GCSE
Learning support & SEN
Sizeable team of ten, including two SENcos in the senior school and one in the prep has seen learning support (LS) at Hurst expand over the years to include the increasing number of pupils with emotional and behavioural needs. Dyslexia and ADHD are
Arts & extracurricular
Heralded locally for its value-added, options to get involved outside the classroom are abundant. ‘One of Hurst’s real strengths,’ said a parent. When asked about the most niche activities: ‘It’s hard to know…there’s so much going on.’ Climbing and
Sport
‘My kids love the sport here and play loads of it,’ said a parent. Hurst is known on the local circuit as ‘the school to beat’, especially in netball, regularly making it into the nationals. A few regional netball players attend the school.
High
Boarders
Hurst hasn’t looked back since its transition from full to weekly/flexi boarding – it’s proved a big hit locally and numbers are booming. The school has landed at a near 50/50 day/boarding ratio, most boarders do five or six nights but three is also
Ethos & heritage
Hurstpierpoint College (known now as Hurst) was founded by the Reverend Nathaniel Woodard in 1849 and is part of the Woodard Corporation. St John’s Middle Grammar School, as it was then called, started in a cottage in Star Lane, Shoreham with just
Pastoral care, inclusivity & discipline
Parents talk of choosing Hurst over its ‘noisy neighbour down the road’ in Brighton for the ‘outstanding’, ‘robust’, and ‘supportive’ pastoral care. Parents and teachers say, ‘There’s a large pupil voice,’ some even suggest it might be, ‘almost too
Mobile phone policy
A clear mobile phone policy is a really important part of modern schooling. This school has provided us with their policy.
Mobile phone policy
Provided by the school and not part of our review In years 9-11, day and boarding pupils must hand in their phones at morning registration. Phones are returned to day pupils at the end of the school day. Boarding pupils are allowed their phones during a break between 6-7pm, and then again between the end of prep and bedtime. If pupils need to access a phone during the day, they can ask for permission from their houseparent or use the Lodge phone. In the sixth form, pupils are permitted their phones but must switch them off during chapel, mealtimes, prep and private study periods, and when in corridors or public areas.
Pupils & parents
‘It’s a social school’ we were told. ‘It brought me out of myself,’ said a self-professed ‘shy child’, although another disagreed saying ‘It wouldn’t’ suit the introverted…the non-adventurous.’ Local day cohort (described to us as ‘waspy’) and weekly
Money matters
Academic bursaries from 11+. Mr Mott is keen to expand bursary and scholarship provision. Fees compare favourably with the local competition, more expensive than some e.g. Burgess Hill Girls, but similar to Brighton and Ardingly.
- Fee information
- Day: £14,070 - £36,885; Boarding: £46,770 - £47,205 pa
The last word
A friendly, go-getting school with a strong community feel that certainly lives up to its impressive local reputation. Recent changes are surely for the better. Just ask the parents, like we did: ‘The best school around.’ ‘Everyone finds their
