Portal House School
Sea Street, St Margaret's-At-Cliffe, Dover, CT15 6SS
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Boys
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rosemary Bradley
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Constituency
- Dover and Deal
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 80
- Pupils on roll
- 80
- URN
- 119062
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01304853033
About this school
Portal House School is a boys' community special school in Dover. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 80 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Portal House 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
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 8 January 2025, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 | 20 | 18 | 20 |
| Attainment 8 score | 15.8 | 16.8 | 13.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -2.09 -2.75 to -1.44 | -1.82 -2.54 to -1.10 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 5% | 5.6% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 10% | 11.1% | 15% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
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 Portal House 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 | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 15.8 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 16.8 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 13.2 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 21.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 29.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 29.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 75 |
| 2023/24 | 71 |
| 2024/25 | 75 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 69.33%
- English as an additional language
- 1.3%
- Overall absence
- 29.38%
- Persistent absence
- 62.96%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Learning Opportunities Centre Secondary2.2 miles
Special schools · Deal
-
Ripplevale School3.2 miles
Special schools · Deal
-
Dover College3.4 miles
Independent schools · Dover
-
The Sallygate School4.5 miles
Special schools · Temple Ewell
-
Elms School4.6 miles
Special schools · Dover
Other schools in Dover
- Elms School Special schools
- Woodpecker Court Other types
- Aycliffe Community Primary School Primary
- Barton Junior School Primary
- Charlton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Dover, St Mary's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School Primary
- Green Park Community Primary School Primary
- Guston Church of England Primary School Primary
- Langdon Primary School Primary
- Lydden Primary School Primary
- Nonington Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Portal House School teach?
- Portal House School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a special school in Dover.
- Who is the headteacher of Portal House School?
- The headteacher of Portal House School is Mrs Rosemary Bradley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Portal House School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Portal House 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 Portal House School?
- Portal House School has 80 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Portal House School full?
- Portal House School has capacity for 80 pupils and 80 on roll (100%), 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 Portal House School a faith school?
- No. Portal House School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Portal House School have?
- The schools register lists Portal House School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Portal House School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 15.8 in 2022/23 and 13.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Portal House School's absence rate?
- Portal House School's overall absence rate is 29.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Portal House School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Portal House 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.