Priory School
Fawcett Road, Southsea, PO4 0DL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- BOHUNT EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Stewart Vaughan
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Bohunt Education Trust
- Constituency
- Portsmouth South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,250
- Pupils on roll
- 1,278
- URN
- 141175
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02392819115
About this school
Priory School is a secondary academy in Southsea. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,278 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Priory School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 244 | 244 | 242 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.3 | 40.3 | 44.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.44 -0.62 to -0.25 | -0.55 -0.73 to -0.36 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 32% | 34% | 43.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 52% | 54.9% | 67.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 34% | 28.7% | 29.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
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 Priory 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 | 39.3 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.3 | 35.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.7 | 33.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,235 |
| 2023/24 | 1,252 |
| 2024/25 | 1,247 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Priory School compares
Priory School ranked 3rd of 10 secondary schools in Portsmouth for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.7 | 9.4% | 35% | 1,278 | — |
| St Edmund's Catholic School | 58.9 | 4.4% | 28.3% | 1,157 | 0.5 miles |
| Ark Charter Academy | 38.9 | 12.9% | 61.7% | 883 | 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 | 0.8 miles |
| Admiral Lord Nelson School | 40.4 | 8.3% | 27.4% | 1,245 | 1.9 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)
- 35.04%
- English as an additional language
- 20%
- Overall absence
- 9.37%
- Persistent absence
- 23.62%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Edmund's Catholic School0.5 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Ark Charter Academy0.5 miles
Secondary · Southsea
-
The Portsmouth Academy0.6 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Miltoncross Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Admiral Lord Nelson School1.9 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
Other schools in Southsea
- Ark Charter Academy 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 ages does Priory School teach?
- Priory School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Southsea.
- Who is the headteacher of Priory School?
- The headteacher of Priory School is Mr Stewart Vaughan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Priory School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Priory 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 Priory School?
- Priory School has 1,278 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Priory School full?
- Priory School has capacity for 1,250 pupils and 1,278 on roll (102%), 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 Priory School a faith school?
- No. Priory School has no designated religious character.
- Is Priory School part of an academy trust?
- Priory School is part of BOHUNT EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Priory School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.3 in 2022/23 and 44.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Priory School compare with other schools in Portsmouth?
- Priory School ranked 3rd of 10 secondary schools in Portsmouth for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 56% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Priory School's absence rate?
- Priory School's overall absence rate is 9.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Priory School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Priory 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.