Freegrounds Junior School
Hobb Lane, Hedge End, Southampton, SO30 0GG
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss Melanie Spark
- Constituency
- Hamble Valley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 304
- Pupils on roll
- 301
- URN
- 116000
- Local authority
- Hampshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01489782295
About this school
Freegrounds Junior School is a community primary school in Southampton. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 301 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Freegrounds Junior School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 19 October 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 93 | 90 | 90 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 65% | 67% | 61% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 4% | 8% |
| Expected standard in reading | 81% | 68% | 73% |
| Expected standard in maths | 80% | 80% | 70% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 63% | 67% | 58% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 105.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.20 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Freegrounds Junior School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Hampshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 65% | 58.5% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 67% | 58.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 61% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 362 |
| 2023/24 | 335 |
| 2024/25 | 333 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Freegrounds Junior School compares
Freegrounds Junior School ranked 181st of 303 primary schools in Hampshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 43% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 89% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 61% | 3.8% | 18.9% | 301 | — |
| Freegrounds Infant School | — | 4.2% | 12.5% | 225 | 0.0 miles |
| Kings Copse Primary School | 59% | 5.3% | 20.7% | 230 | 0.4 miles |
| Shamblehurst Primary School | 65% | 4.6% | 23.4% | 404 | 0.6 miles |
| Berrywood Primary School | 70% | 4.4% | 13.7% | 631 | 0.8 miles |
| Botley Church of England Controlled Primary School | 77% | 3.3% | 14.6% | 357 | 1.1 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.92%
- English as an additional language
- 4.5%
- Overall absence
- 3.75%
- Persistent absence
- 5.36%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Freegrounds Infant School0.0 miles
Primary · Southampton
-
Kings Copse Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Southampton
-
Shamblehurst Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Southampton
-
Berrywood Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Southampton
-
Botley Church of England Controlled Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Southampton
Other schools in Southampton
Freegrounds Junior School ranks 43rd of the 79 ranked primary schools in Southampton.
- Abbotswood Junior School Primary
- Banister Primary School Primary
- Bartley Church of England Junior School Primary
- Bassett Green Primary School Primary
- Beechwood Junior School Primary
- Berrywood Primary School Primary
- Bevois Town Primary School Primary
- Bishop's Waltham Junior School Primary
- Bishops Waltham Infant School Primary
- Bitterne Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bitterne Manor Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Bitterne Park Primary & Nursery School - Part of the Learning Federation Partnership of Schools Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Freegrounds Junior School teach?
- Freegrounds Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Southampton.
- Who is the headteacher of Freegrounds Junior School?
- The headteacher of Freegrounds Junior School is Miss Melanie Spark, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Freegrounds Junior School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Freegrounds Junior School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Freegrounds Junior School?
- Freegrounds Junior School has 301 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Freegrounds Junior School full?
- Freegrounds Junior School has capacity for 304 pupils and 301 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Freegrounds Junior School a faith school?
- No. Freegrounds Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does Freegrounds Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Freegrounds Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Freegrounds Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 65% in 2022/23 and 61% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Freegrounds Junior School compare with other schools in Hampshire?
- Freegrounds Junior School ranked 181st of 303 primary schools in Hampshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 43% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 89% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Freegrounds Junior School's absence rate?
- Freegrounds Junior School's overall absence rate is 3.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Freegrounds Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Freegrounds Junior School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.