Craneswater Junior School
St Ronan's Road, Southsea, PO4 0PX
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr David Jones
- Constituency
- Portsmouth South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 480
- Pupils on roll
- 508
- URN
- 116223
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02392734787
About this school
Craneswater Junior School is a community primary school in Southsea. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 508 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school 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 16 June 2022, 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 | 109 | 114 | 116 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 56% | 57% | 53% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 2% | 2% |
| Expected standard in reading | 71% | 74% | 78% |
| Expected standard in maths | 67% | 70% | 66% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 67% | 75% | 71% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 106.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 104.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.80 | - | - |
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 Craneswater 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 | Portsmouth average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 56% | 48% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 57% | 48.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 53% | 51.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 474 |
| 2023/24 | 507 |
| 2024/25 | 506 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Craneswater Junior School compares
Craneswater Junior School ranked 21st of 32 primary schools in Portsmouth for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 85% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53% | 3.9% | 26.7% | 508 | — |
| Southsea Infant School | — | 5.7% | 16.4% | 167 | 0.3 miles |
| St Swithun's Catholic Primary School | 69% | 4.5% | 16.2% | 351 | 0.4 miles |
| Bramble Infant School and Nursery | — | 4.9% | 16.1% | 162 | 0.4 miles |
| Cumberland Infant School | — | 3.4% | 11.9% | 172 | 0.4 miles |
| Devonshire Infant School | — | 5.5% | 30.9% | 171 | 0.5 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)
- 26.68%
- English as an additional language
- 21.1%
- Overall absence
- 3.93%
- Persistent absence
- 6.02%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Southsea Infant School0.3 miles
Primary · Southsea
-
St Swithun's Catholic Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Southsea
-
Bramble Infant School and Nursery0.4 miles
Primary · Southsea
-
Cumberland Infant School0.4 miles
Primary · Southsea
-
Devonshire Infant School0.5 miles
Primary · Southsea
Other schools in Southsea
- Bramble Infant School and Nursery Primary
- Cottage Grove Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Cumberland Infant School Primary
- Devonshire Infant School Primary
- Fernhurst Junior School Primary
- Meon Infant School Primary
- Moorings Way Infant School Primary
- Southsea Infant School Primary
- St Swithun's Catholic Primary School Primary
- Ark Charter Academy Secondary
- Priory School Secondary
- Mayville High School Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Craneswater Junior School teach?
- Craneswater Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Southsea.
- Who is the headteacher of Craneswater Junior School?
- The headteacher of Craneswater Junior School is Mr David Jones, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Craneswater Junior School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Craneswater 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 big is Craneswater Junior School?
- Craneswater Junior School has 508 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Craneswater Junior School full?
- Craneswater Junior School has capacity for 480 pupils and 508 on roll (106%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Craneswater Junior School a faith school?
- No. Craneswater Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does Craneswater Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Craneswater Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Craneswater Junior School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 56% in 2022/23 and 53% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Craneswater Junior School rank locally?
- Craneswater Junior School ranked 21st of 32 primary schools in Portsmouth for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 85% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Craneswater Junior School's absence rate?
- Craneswater Junior School's overall absence rate is 3.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Craneswater Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Craneswater 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.