St Edmund's Catholic School
Arundel Street, Portsmouth, PO1 1RX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mr Simon Graham
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Portsmouth (rc)
- SEN provision
- VI - Visual Impairment, HI - Hearing Impairment
- Constituency
- Portsmouth South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,058
- Pupils on roll
- 1,157
- URN
- 116505
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02392823766
About this school
St Edmund's Catholic School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Portsmouth. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,157 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Edmund's Catholic School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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 Outstanding. 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 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 201 | 229 | 223 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.5 | 55.6 | 58.9 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.59 +0.39 to +0.79 | +0.66 +0.47 to +0.85 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 61% | 68.6% | 70.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 84% | 86.9% | 86.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 24% | 55.9% | 64.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 5.0 | 5.4 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How St Edmund's Catholic 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 | 52.5 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 55.6 | 35.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 58.9 | 33.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,120 |
| 2023/24 | 1,150 |
| 2024/25 | 1,150 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Edmund's Catholic School compares
St Edmund's Catholic School ranked 1st of 10 secondary schools in Portsmouth for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 92% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 74% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 58.9 | 4.4% | 28.3% | 1,157 | — |
| Ark Charter Academy | 38.9 | 12.9% | 61.7% | 883 | 0.2 miles |
| Priory School | 44.7 | 9.4% | 35% | 1,278 | 0.5 miles |
| The Portsmouth Academy | 33.5 | 12% | 55.8% | 1,203 | 0.6 miles |
| Miltoncross Academy | 36.3 | 11.8% | 42.6% | 983 | 1.1 miles |
| Admiral Lord Nelson School | 40.4 | 8.3% | 27.4% | 1,245 | 2.0 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)
- 28.26%
- English as an additional language
- 46.5%
- Overall absence
- 4.43%
- Persistent absence
- 7.5%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ark Charter Academy0.2 miles
Secondary · Southsea
-
Priory School0.5 miles
Secondary · Southsea
-
The Portsmouth Academy0.6 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Miltoncross Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Admiral Lord Nelson School2.0 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
Other schools in Portsmouth
St Edmund's Catholic School ranks 1st of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Portsmouth.
- Admiral Lord Nelson School Secondary
- Castle View Academy Secondary
- Miltoncross Academy Secondary
- Springfield School Secondary
- The Portsmouth Academy Secondary
- Trafalgar School Secondary
- UTC Portsmouth Secondary
- 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
Common questions
- What ages does St Edmund's Catholic School teach?
- St Edmund's Catholic School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Portsmouth.
- Who is the headteacher of St Edmund's Catholic School?
- The headteacher of St Edmund's Catholic School is Mr Simon Graham, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Edmund's Catholic School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Edmund's Catholic 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 Edmund's Catholic School?
- St Edmund's Catholic School has 1,157 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is St Edmund's Catholic School full?
- St Edmund's Catholic School has capacity for 1,058 pupils and 1,157 on roll (109%), 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 Edmund's Catholic School a faith school?
- Yes. St Edmund's Catholic School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Portsmouth (rc).
- Is St Edmund's Catholic School a selective school?
- No. St Edmund's Catholic School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does St Edmund's Catholic School have?
- The schools register lists St Edmund's Catholic School's special educational needs provision as: VI - Visual Impairment; HI - Hearing Impairment. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have St Edmund's Catholic School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 52.5 in 2022/23 and 58.9 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 Edmund's Catholic School compare with other schools in Portsmouth?
- St Edmund's Catholic School ranked 1st of 10 secondary schools in Portsmouth for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 92% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 74% 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 Edmund's Catholic School's absence rate?
- St Edmund's Catholic School's overall absence rate is 4.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Edmund's Catholic School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Edmund's Catholic 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.