Portsdown Primary School

Portsdown Primary School is performing well overall, demonstrating good quality of education, effective leadership, and positive behaviour among pupils. The school has created a supportive and inclusive environment, allowing students to thrive despite personal challenges. Recent efforts to improve academic outcomes in core subjects like reading and mathematics are showing positive results, particularly in early years and key stage 1. However, older pupils have struggled with writing skills, which remains a focus for further enhancement. The school's prior performance is consistent with its current rating of good, indicating stability and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Strengths

• Strong relationships between staff and pupils fostering a caring environment.
• Decisive actions taken to improve academic outcomes in reading and mathematics.
• Well-structured lessons effectively support pupils with special educational needs.
• Broad and well-sequenced curriculum with a focus on vocabulary development.
• High attendance rates following effective interventions from the school.
• Pupils are engaged in extra-curricular activities, which enhance their school experience.

Areas for Improvement

• Limited opportunities for independent and meaningful writing across subjects.
• Some staff possess less experience and expertise, affecting curriculum delivery.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Portsdown Primary School attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.8% of pupils at Portsdown Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Portsdown Primary School had 19.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 14.8% of pupils at Portsdown Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Portsdown Primary School received £8,452 and spent £8,304 for each of its 380 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £480,000 (£1,265 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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What is Portsdown Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Portsdown Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2024.

When was Portsdown Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Portsdown Primary School was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does Portsdown Primary School have?

Portsdown Primary School has 398 pupils on roll.

What age range does Portsdown Primary School cover?

Portsdown Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Portsdown Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 35% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Portsdown Primary School?

Portsdown Primary School is at Sundridge Close, Wymering, Cosham, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO6 3JL.