Park Community School

Park Community School is a secondary school serving a disadvantaged community, with well-above-average proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with SEND. Safeguarding standards are met. The inspection found that pupils benefit from a strong personal development programme, extensive enrichment and leadership opportunities, and a careers programme that is a particular strength. The vocational curriculum is also a strength, and leaders, governors and staff are highly committed to improving pupils' lives. Many pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, achieve well in vocational qualifications and alternative English and mathematics qualifications.

Strengths

• Well-designed personal development programme that prepares pupils for adult life
• Careers education is a particular strength and exceeds entitlement
• Extensive enrichment opportunities, including cooking, farm animals and school clubs
• Vocational curriculum is a strength, with expert teaching and strong pupil outcomes
• Strong support for reading and for pupils with SEND or EHC plans
• Leaders and governors are committed, know the school well and use pupil premium effectively
• Attendance and behaviour are improving, with suspensions reduced significantly
• Bullying is rare and pupils feel staff act swiftly on concerns
• Staff feel respected and supported, and parents speak highly of the school
• School goes the extra mile to support pupils with food, clothing and enrichment access

Areas for Improvement

• Published outcomes show pupils have not achieved as well as they should
• Too few pupils achieve English and mathematics qualifications at a suitable standard
• Progress 8 and Attainment 8 are well below national averages
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes are low and the disadvantage gap is wide
• Attendance remains low overall and persistent absence is well above average
• In a minority of lessons, work does not match pupils' needs closely enough
• Expectations for writing, spelling and sentence construction vary between subjects
• Evaluation of the impact of support is not precise enough, including for attendance
• Too few pupils sustain post-16 education, employment or training compared with national averages
• Leaders need to sharpen quality assurance to judge the impact of actions confidently

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 Park Community School attended 84.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 42.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 6.8% of pupils at Park Community School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 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 Park Community School had 14.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 28.5% of pupils at Park Community School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 7.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Park Community School received £11,790 and spent £11,890 for each of its 1,009 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,518,000 (£1,504 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Havant · Hampshire local authority: places and applications

What is Park Community School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Park Community School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Park Community School last inspected by Ofsted?

Park Community School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Park Community School have?

Park Community School has 1,006 pupils on roll.

What age range does Park Community School cover?

Park Community School for pupils aged 4 to 16.

What are Park Community School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 27.7, and 7% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Park Community School?

Park Community School is at Middle Park Way, Leigh Park, Park Community School, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 4BU.