Trafalgar School
London Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth, PO2 9RJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE SALTERNS ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Gemma Pearse
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Salterns Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Portsmouth North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,000
- Pupils on roll
- 1,031
- URN
- 141875
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02392693521
About this school
Trafalgar School is a secondary academy in Portsmouth. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,031 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Trafalgar 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
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
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 153 | 179 | 170 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.7 | 37.8 | 43.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.40 -0.63 to -0.18 | -0.19 -0.40 to +0.02 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 29% | 22.9% | 37.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 54% | 46.9% | 64.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 14% | 36.9% | 47.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.2 | 3.2 | 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 Trafalgar 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 | 38.7 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 37.8 | 35.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.5 | 33.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 971 |
| 2023/24 | 1,024 |
| 2024/25 | 1,041 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Trafalgar School compares
Trafalgar School ranked 4th of 10 secondary schools in Portsmouth for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% 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 | 43.5 | 8.2% | 38.7% | 1,031 | — |
| UTC Portsmouth | 48.3 | 8.6% | 20.6% | 491 | 0.0 miles |
| Admiral Lord Nelson School | 40.4 | 8.3% | 27.4% | 1,245 | 1.2 miles |
| Springfield School | 39.8 | 9.7% | 28.4% | 1,133 | 1.3 miles |
| The Portsmouth Academy | 33.5 | 12% | 55.8% | 1,203 | 1.8 miles |
| Miltoncross Academy | 36.3 | 11.8% | 42.6% | 983 | 2.1 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)
- 38.71%
- English as an additional language
- 11.6%
- Overall absence
- 8.24%
- Persistent absence
- 21.01%
Location
Nearby schools
-
UTC Portsmouth0.0 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Admiral Lord Nelson School1.2 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Springfield School1.3 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
The Portsmouth Academy1.8 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
-
Miltoncross Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Portsmouth
Other schools in Portsmouth
Trafalgar School ranks 3rd 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
- The Portsmouth Academy 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 Trafalgar School teach?
- Trafalgar School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Portsmouth.
- Who is the headteacher of Trafalgar School?
- The headteacher of Trafalgar School is Mrs Gemma Pearse, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Trafalgar School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Trafalgar 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 Trafalgar School?
- Trafalgar School has 1,031 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Trafalgar School full?
- Trafalgar School has capacity for 1,000 pupils and 1,031 on roll (103%), 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 Trafalgar School a faith school?
- No. Trafalgar School has no designated religious character.
- Is Trafalgar School a selective school?
- No. Trafalgar School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Trafalgar School part of an academy trust?
- Trafalgar School is part of THE SALTERNS 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 Trafalgar School have?
- The schools register lists Trafalgar School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Trafalgar School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.7 in 2022/23 and 43.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Trafalgar School compare with other schools in Portsmouth?
- Trafalgar School ranked 4th of 10 secondary schools in Portsmouth for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% 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 Trafalgar School's absence rate?
- Trafalgar School's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Trafalgar School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Trafalgar 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 6 July 2026.