St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School
Cottage View, Landport, Portsmouth, PO1 1PX
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mrs L Park
- Diocese
- Diocese of Portsmouth (rc)
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Portsmouth South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 237
- URN
- 116385
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02392821055
About this school
St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided primary school in Portsmouth. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 237 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 77% | 70% | 83% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 7% | 13% |
| Expected standard in reading | 83% | 80% | 93% |
| Expected standard in maths | 87% | 80% | 87% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 90% | 87% | 83% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 106.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 105.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.90 | - | - |
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 St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary 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 | 77% | 48% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 70% | 48.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 83% | 51.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 243 |
| 2023/24 | 243 |
| 2024/25 | 234 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School compares
St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School ranked 1st of 32 primary schools in Portsmouth for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 91% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 94% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 83% | 3.4% | 30.1% | 237 | — |
| Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery | 35% | 7.1% | 62.8% | 668 | 0.1 miles |
| Ark Ayrton Primary Academy | 78% | 6.2% | 63.3% | 495 | 0.3 miles |
| Penbridge Infant School & Nursery | — | 5.4% | 28% | 207 | 0.4 miles |
| Ark Dickens Primary Academy | 67% | 6.1% | 56.8% | 446 | 0.4 miles |
| Manor Infant and Nursery School | — | 5.5% | 47.2% | 232 | 0.6 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)
- 30.14%
- English as an additional language
- 56.8%
- Overall absence
- 3.42%
- Persistent absence
- 4.37%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery0.1 miles
Primary · Portsmouth
-
Ark Ayrton Primary Academy0.3 miles
Primary · Portsmouth
-
Penbridge Infant School & Nursery0.4 miles
Primary · Portsmouth
-
Ark Dickens Primary Academy0.4 miles
Primary · Portsmouth
-
Manor Infant and Nursery School0.6 miles
Primary · Portsmouth
Other schools in Portsmouth
St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School ranks 1st of the 28 ranked primary schools in Portsmouth.
- Ark Ayrton Primary Academy Primary
- Ark Dickens Primary Academy Primary
- Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery Primary
- Beacon View Primary Academy Primary
- Copnor Primary School Primary
- Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Primary
- Court Lane Infant Academy Primary
- Court Lane Junior Academy Primary
- Gatcombe Park Primary School Primary
- Highbury Primary School Primary
- King's Academy College Park (Infant) Primary
- King's Academy College Park (Junior) Primary
Common questions
- What ages does St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School teach?
- St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Portsmouth.
- Who is the headteacher of St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School?
- The headteacher of St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School is Mrs L Park, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary 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 St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School?
- St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School has 237 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School full?
- St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 237 on roll (113%), 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 St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Portsmouth (rc).
- Does St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 77% in 2022/23 and 83% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School compare with other schools in Portsmouth?
- St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School ranked 1st of 32 primary schools in Portsmouth for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 91% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 94% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School's absence rate?
- St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary 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.