Ark Charter Academy
Hyde Park Road, Southsea, PO5 4HL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- ARK SCHOOLS
- Principal
- Mr Christian Down
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Diocese
- Diocese of Portsmouth (ce)
- Sponsor
- ARK Schools
- Constituency
- Portsmouth South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 883
- URN
- 135965
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02392824204
About this school
Ark Charter Academy is a Church of England secondary academy in Southsea. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 883 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 165 | 173 | 181 |
| Attainment 8 score | 33.6 | 40.6 | 38.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.70 -0.94 to -0.47 | -0.32 -0.55 to -0.08 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 26% | 35.3% | 35.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 42% | 55.5% | 52.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 19% | 63.6% | 38.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.9 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
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 Ark Charter Academy 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 | 33.6 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.6 | 35.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.9 | 33.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 853 |
| 2023/24 | 876 |
| 2024/25 | 917 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ark Charter Academy compares
Ark Charter Academy ranked 7th of 10 secondary schools in Portsmouth for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 35% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.9 | 12.9% | 61.7% | 883 | — |
| St Edmund's Catholic School | 58.9 | 4.4% | 28.3% | 1,157 | 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 | 0.8 miles |
| Miltoncross Academy | 36.3 | 11.8% | 42.6% | 983 | 1.2 miles |
| Admiral Lord Nelson School | 40.4 | 8.3% | 27.4% | 1,245 | 2.2 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)
- 61.72%
- English as an additional language
- 38.7%
- Overall absence
- 12.9%
- Persistent absence
- 32.88%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Edmund's Catholic School0.2 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Priory School0.5 miles
Secondary · Southsea
-
The Portsmouth Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Miltoncross Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Admiral Lord Nelson School2.2 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
Other schools in Southsea
- Priory School Secondary
- Bramble Infant School and Nursery Primary
- Cottage Grove Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Craneswater Junior School 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
- Mayville High School Independent schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Ark Charter Academy teach?
- Ark Charter Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Southsea.
- Who is the principal of Ark Charter Academy?
- The principal of Ark Charter Academy is Mr Christian Down, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ark Charter Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ark Charter Academy, 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 Ark Charter Academy?
- Ark Charter Academy has 883 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Ark Charter Academy full?
- Ark Charter Academy has capacity for 900 pupils and 883 on roll (98%), 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 Ark Charter Academy a faith school?
- Yes. Ark Charter Academy is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Portsmouth (ce).
- Is Ark Charter Academy a selective school?
- No. Ark Charter Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Ark Charter Academy?
- Ark Charter Academy is part of ARK SCHOOLS. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Ark Charter Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 33.6 in 2022/23 and 38.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ark Charter Academy rank locally?
- Ark Charter Academy ranked 7th of 10 secondary schools in Portsmouth for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 35% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ark Charter Academy's absence rate?
- Ark Charter Academy's overall absence rate is 12.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ark Charter Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ark Charter Academy'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 1 July 2026.