Highbury Primary School
Dovercourt Road, Cosham, Portsmouth, PO6 2RZ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- UNIVERSITY OF CHICHESTER (MULTI) ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Joanne Watson
- Sponsor
- University of Chichester (Multi) Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Portsmouth North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 391
- URN
- 144191
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 02392375404
About this school
Highbury Primary School is a primary academy in Portsmouth. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 391 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
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 54 | 60 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 43% | 55% | 63% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 8% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 61% | 77% | 75% |
| Expected standard in maths | 63% | 68% | 73% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 65% | 73% | 68% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 107.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -3.40 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Highbury Primary 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 | 43% | 48% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 55% | 48.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 63% | 51.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 406 |
| 2023/24 | 407 |
| 2024/25 | 411 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Highbury Primary School compares
Highbury Primary School ranked 9th of 32 primary schools in Portsmouth for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 66% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 63% | 4.8% | 26.5% | 391 | — |
| Court Lane Infant Academy | — | 5% | 12.9% | 346 | 0.5 miles |
| Court Lane Junior Academy | 57% | 5.2% | 21.8% | 474 | 0.5 miles |
| Gatcombe Park Primary School | 63% | 4.2% | 26.4% | 203 | 0.7 miles |
| Medina Primary School | 58% | 5.6% | 44.6% | 204 | 0.8 miles |
| Portsdown Primary School | 35% | 6% | 52% | 398 | 0.9 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report18 November 2025
- 1 December 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 26.52%
- English as an additional language
- 9%
- Overall absence
- 4.79%
- Persistent absence
- 7.82%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Court Lane Infant Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Portsmouth
-
Court Lane Junior Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Portsmouth
-
Gatcombe Park Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Portsmouth
-
Medina Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Portsmouth
-
Portsdown Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Portsmouth
Other schools in Portsmouth
Highbury Primary School ranks 8th of the 28 ranked primary schools in Portsmouth.
- 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
- Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Primary
- Court Lane Infant Academy Primary
- Court Lane Junior Academy Primary
- Gatcombe Park Primary School Primary
- King's Academy College Park (Infant) Primary
- King's Academy College Park (Junior) Primary
- King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Highbury Primary School teach?
- Highbury Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Portsmouth.
- Who is the headteacher of Highbury Primary School?
- The headteacher of Highbury Primary School is Mrs Joanne Watson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Highbury Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Highbury Primary 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 Highbury Primary School?
- Highbury Primary School has 391 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Highbury Primary School full?
- Highbury Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 391 on roll (93%), so it has space against 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 Highbury Primary School a faith school?
- No. Highbury Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Highbury Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Highbury Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Highbury Primary School?
- Highbury Primary School is part of UNIVERSITY OF CHICHESTER (MULTI) ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Highbury Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 43% in 2022/23 and 63% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Highbury Primary School rank locally?
- Highbury Primary School ranked 9th of 32 primary schools in Portsmouth for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 47% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 66% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Highbury Primary School's absence rate?
- Highbury Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Highbury Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Highbury Primary 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 10 July 2026.