Priestlands School
North Street, Pennington, Lymington, SO41 8FZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- PRIESTLANDS SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Mr Peter Main
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- New Forest West
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,215
- Pupils on roll
- 1,205
- URN
- 137129
- Local authority
- Hampshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01590677033
About this school
Priestlands School is a secondary academy in Lymington. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,205 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. 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 22 February 2023, 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 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 249 | 253 | 239 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.9 | 50.1 | 48.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.02 -0.17 to +0.20 | -0.01 -0.19 to +0.17 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 52% | 58.1% | 50.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 72% | 76.7% | 69.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 25% | 28.5% | 24.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.2 |
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 Priestlands 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 | Hampshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.9 | 37.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.1 | 37.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.8 | 37.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,240 |
| 2023/24 | 1,232 |
| 2024/25 | 1,236 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Priestlands School compares
Priestlands School ranked 19th of 67 secondary schools in Hampshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 72% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.8 | 8.4% | 20.3% | 1,205 | — |
| The Arnewood School | 37.6 | 7.9% | 26.7% | 839 | 4.8 miles |
| Highcliffe School | 47 | 7% | 14.9% | 1,519 | 7.4 miles |
| The Grange School | 36.3 | 15.7% | 43.9% | 429 | 8.9 miles |
| Applemore College | 36.7 | 11.8% | 28.8% | 478 | 9.2 miles |
| Lift New Forest | 38.5 | 9.4% | 44.3% | 504 | 9.3 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)
- 20.31%
- English as an additional language
- 6.1%
- Overall absence
- 8.37%
- Persistent absence
- 21.15%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Arnewood School4.8 miles
Secondary · New Milton
-
Highcliffe School7.4 miles
Secondary · Christchurch
-
The Grange School8.9 miles
Secondary · Christchurch
-
Applemore College9.2 miles
Secondary · Southampton
-
Lift New Forest9.3 miles
Secondary · Southampton
Other schools in Lymington
- Hordle CofE (VA) Primary School Primary
- Lymington Church of England Infant School Primary
- Lymington Junior School Primary
- Milford-on-Sea Church of England Primary School Primary
- Our Lady and St Joseph Catholic Primary School - the Learning Federation Partnership of Schools Primary
- Pennington Church of England Primary School Primary
- South Baddesley Church of England Primary School & Nursery Primary
- St Luke's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Tiptoe Primary School Primary
- William Gilpin Church of England Primary School Primary
- Hill House School Special schools
- Southlands School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Priestlands School teach?
- Priestlands School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Lymington.
- Who is the headteacher of Priestlands School?
- The headteacher of Priestlands School is Mr Peter Main, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Priestlands School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Priestlands 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 Priestlands School?
- Priestlands School has 1,205 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Priestlands School full?
- Priestlands School has capacity for 1,215 pupils and 1,205 on roll (99%), 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 Priestlands School a faith school?
- No. Priestlands School has no designated religious character.
- Is Priestlands School a selective school?
- No. Priestlands School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Priestlands School?
- Priestlands School is part of PRIESTLANDS SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Priestlands School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.9 in 2022/23 and 48.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Priestlands School rank locally?
- Priestlands School ranked 19th of 67 secondary schools in Hampshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 72% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Priestlands School's absence rate?
- Priestlands School's overall absence rate is 8.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Priestlands School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Priestlands 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 1 July 2026.