Hounsdown School

Hounsdown School is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating in its latest Ofsted inspection. The school has demonstrated notable strengths in areas such as personal development, where it excels, and maintains high expectations for student learning and behavior. With a supportive learning environment, pupils are motivated and engaged, participating actively in various extracurricular opportunities. However, there are some areas needing improvement, particularly in leadership's evaluation of their strategies and the monitoring of pupils learning remotely. This is the school's first graded inspection since being rated 'Outstanding' seven years ago.

Strengths

• Pupils are enthusiastic about learning and participate actively in school activities.
• The curriculum is well-designed and varied, promoting extensive knowledge acquisition.
• Teachers are passionate and knowledgeable, inspiring pupils in their subjects.
• Strong relationships exist between staff and pupils, creating a positive school atmosphere.
• Effective support systems are in place for pupils with special educational needs.
• The school provides a wide array of career-focused activities and experiences.
• Pupils' character development is well integrated into lesson plans and activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Monitoring of remote learning for some pupils is insufficient.
• Inconsistencies exist in the implementation of behavior management strategies.
• Leadership does not consistently evaluate the impact of improvement strategies.

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 Hounsdown School attended 91.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.1% 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, 6.3% of pupils at Hounsdown 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 Hounsdown School had 15.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.8% 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, 13.2% of pupils at Hounsdown School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.1% 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 2024–25 Hounsdown School received £7,574 and spent £7,463 for each of its 1,281 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £948,000 (£740 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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What is Hounsdown School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hounsdown School is Good, from an inspection in July 2024.

When was Hounsdown School last inspected by Ofsted?

Hounsdown School was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does Hounsdown School have?

Hounsdown School has 1,283 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hounsdown School cover?

Hounsdown School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Hounsdown School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 48.7, and 48% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Hounsdown School?

Hounsdown School is at Jacobs Gutter Lane, Totton, Southampton, Hampshire, SO40 9FT.