The Portsmouth Academy
St Mary's Road, Portsmouth, PO1 5PF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Sarah Dedman
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- The Thinking Schools Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Portsmouth South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,150
- Pupils on roll
- 1,203
- URN
- 139714
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 03333602200
About this school
The Portsmouth Academy is a secondary academy in Portsmouth. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,203 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Portsmouth Academy, 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 27 April 2022, 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 | 218 | 219 | 239 |
| Attainment 8 score | 34.5 | 34.8 | 33.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.03 -1.22 to -0.83 | -1.10 -1.30 to -0.90 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 22% | 25.1% | 20.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 43% | 46.1% | 40.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 38% | 47% | 38.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.0 |
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 The Portsmouth 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 | 34.5 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 34.8 | 35.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 33.5 | 33.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,173 |
| 2023/24 | 1,217 |
| 2024/25 | 1,243 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Portsmouth Academy compares
The Portsmouth Academy ranked 10th of 10 secondary schools in Portsmouth for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 25% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 33.5 | 12% | 55.8% | 1,203 | — |
| St Edmund's Catholic School | 58.9 | 4.4% | 28.3% | 1,157 | 0.6 miles |
| Priory School | 44.7 | 9.4% | 35% | 1,278 | 0.6 miles |
| Miltoncross Academy | 36.3 | 11.8% | 42.6% | 983 | 0.7 miles |
| Ark Charter Academy | 38.9 | 12.9% | 61.7% | 883 | 0.8 miles |
| Admiral Lord Nelson School | 40.4 | 8.3% | 27.4% | 1,245 | 1.4 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)
- 55.75%
- English as an additional language
- 30.4%
- Overall absence
- 11.98%
- Persistent absence
- 31.36%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Edmund's Catholic School0.6 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Priory School0.6 miles
Secondary · Southsea
-
Miltoncross Academy0.7 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Ark Charter Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Southsea
-
Admiral Lord Nelson School1.4 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
Other schools in Portsmouth
The Portsmouth Academy ranks 8th of the 8 ranked secondary schools in Portsmouth.
- Admiral Lord Nelson School Secondary
- Castle View Academy Secondary
- Miltoncross Academy Secondary
- Springfield School Secondary
- St Edmund's Catholic School 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 The Portsmouth Academy teach?
- The Portsmouth Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Portsmouth.
- Who is the principal of The Portsmouth Academy?
- The principal of The Portsmouth Academy is Mrs Sarah Dedman, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Portsmouth Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Portsmouth 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 many pupils are at The Portsmouth Academy?
- The Portsmouth Academy has 1,203 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Portsmouth Academy full?
- The Portsmouth Academy has capacity for 1,150 pupils and 1,203 on roll (105%), 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 The Portsmouth Academy a faith school?
- No. The Portsmouth Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Portsmouth Academy a selective school?
- No. The Portsmouth Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Portsmouth Academy part of an academy trust?
- The Portsmouth Academy is part of THE THINKING SCHOOLS ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The Portsmouth Academy have?
- The schools register lists The Portsmouth Academy's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Portsmouth Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 34.5 in 2022/23 and 33.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Portsmouth Academy compare with other schools in Portsmouth?
- The Portsmouth Academy ranked 10th of 10 secondary schools in Portsmouth for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 25% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Portsmouth Academy's absence rate?
- The Portsmouth Academy's overall absence rate is 12% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Portsmouth Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Portsmouth 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.