The schools around Buxted are good, and the only hard part is the drive. About four in five local schools come out good or better. The village has its own primary within walking distance. The secondaries are in the neighbouring towns. For the first seven years, the car barely gets a look in. After that, it earns its keep.
There are 3 mainstream state primaries in the area, and their average scaled score in Key Stage 2 maths is about 104. That is a solid set of results for village schools, and it doesn't lean on any single outlier. Buxted CofE Primary School carries the village's name and is the obvious first look. High Hurstwood Church of England Primary School serves the northern end of the parish, and Framfield Church of England Primary School sits a short drive south. The Department for Transport's modelled journey times put the nearest primary at about a 16-minute walk, 7 minutes by car or 15 by public transport. On a dry morning, the school run here is a walk, not a logistics exercise.
Across the wider authority, the Ofsted picture holds up. Of the 67 settings in East Sussex's list for this area that carry a published overall grade, Ofsted has graded 54 good or better, which is roughly four in five. Seven of those are outstanding. At the other end, 7 are graded requires improvement and 6 inadequate. These counts cover the local authority list, not Buxted's own handful of schools, so check each school's latest report rather than borrowing the county's average as a promise.
Secondary means leaving the village. Uckfield College and Beacon Academy are the two secondary names in reach, and the nearest secondary is modelled at about 13 minutes by car, 41 by public transport or 52 on foot. Those are 2019 modelled times, and the public transport one ages fastest as services change. A family that moves for the primary without thinking about the secondary is planning in halves.
None of these names guarantees a place. Admissions run on each school's own criteria, and living near a school is not the same as getting into it. Some of the church primaries weigh factors beyond distance. The council's admissions booklet sorts that out, with all the warmth of a spreadsheet, and it will not care which estate agent told you what. Read it before you offer on a house, not after the allocation letter.
Schools are one of Buxted's real strengths: dependable primaries on the doorstep and a county record that sits well above the worry line. The only thing that needs planning is the move to secondary, and that is a question of miles rather than quality.