Secondary school in Horsham, West Sussex
The Forest School
Comptons Lane, Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 5NT
Ofsted
Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 26 January 2022.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 4 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 1115
- Places
- 1140
- How full
- Nearly full — 1115 of 1140 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 368 / 747
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Horsham 008B, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.
- Adults with a degree
- 49%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 8%
- Households owning their home
- 93%
- Households in social housing
- 1%
- Households with no car
- 6%
- Adults economically inactive
- 45%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- HORSHAM LEARNING ALLIANCE
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Ian Straw
- Local authority
- West Sussex
- Ward
- Forest
- Constituency
- Horsham
- URN
- 151923
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millais SchoolCommunity school | Good 2022 | 51.6 | 0.3 mi |
| Tanbridge House SchoolCommunity school | Outstanding 2024 | 54.2 | 2 mi |
| Bohunt HorshamFree schools | Good 2023 | 49.5 | 2.2 mi |
| Christ's HospitalOther independent school | No grade | — | 2.7 mi |
| Farlington SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 3.5 mi |
| Brighton College Prep HandcrossOther independent school | No grade | — | 4.8 mi |
| Holy Trinity CofE Secondary School, CrawleyVoluntary aided school | Good 2023 | 41.7 | 5.3 mi |
| Atelier21 Future SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 5.4 mi |
Where these figures come from
- School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
- Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25.
- Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
- Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
- Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.
All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.