Overall Oxbridge
#1,039
3 ranked schools · -125 places vs Eng avg #914 of 1,984
Applications
35
Offers
5
Offer rate14.3%
-8.1 pts vs Eng avgEng avg 22.4%
Sitting almost entirely on Portsea Island in the Solent, Portsmouth is England's only city not located primarily on the mainland. Around 208,000 residents live within that footprint, giving the city the highest population density in the United Kingdom.
The island constrains its spread. The dockyard lineage runs back to Henry VII's first drydock in 1496, and the Royal Navy presence shaped the built character of the place for five centuries. Old Portsmouth and Southsea are among the most school-competitive postcodes in the city, drawing families who value proximity to a range of state provision; Landport, the dense Victorian residential quarter just inland from the dockyard gates, has long been a sought-after pocket for primary catchments. Paulsgrove and Hilsea extend the residential belt northward, with South Western Railway services from Portsmouth Harbour connecting to London Waterloo.
35
Primary
schools
9
Secondary
schools
5
All-through
schools
1
Post-16
colleges
6
Special
schools
2
Other
schools
Area Performance
Across 49 primary, secondary and sixth-form schools, state and independent. The average Find My School Inspection Score is 7.61/10, +0.20 vs England.
Find My School Inspection Band
Distribution across all Portsmouth schools
Portsmouth vs England distribution
National Rank
Across all ranked Portsmouth schools
top 65% of 14,978
top 65% of 14,978
top 56% of 3,862
top 56% of 3,862
top 31% of 2,555
top 31% of 2,555
Overall Oxbridge
3 ranked schools · -125 places vs Eng avg #914 of 1,984
Applications
35
Offers
5
Oxford
3 ranked schools · -34 places vs Eng avg #253 of 1,198
Applications
21
Offers
0
Cambridge
3 ranked schools · +436 places vs Eng avg #773 of 1,881
Applications
14
Offers
5
2026
Portsmouth
2026
Portsmouth
2026
Portsmouth
Local directory
Browse 50 local profile links across primary schools, secondary schools and sixth forms. Each profile brings together admissions context, performance data, inspection history and school details in one place.
Answer ten quick questions and we’ll match four schools to your child.
