The Portsmouth Grammar School

Praemia Virtutis Honores (Honours are the rewards of virtue), reads the motto, and since 1732 The Portsmouth Grammar School has grown from a physician's bequest into one of the south coast's leading independent schools. Set on the High Street in Old Portsmouth, a short walk from the harbour and directly opposite Portsmouth Cathedral, PGS is a co-educational, all-through school of around 1,142 pupils across its whole roll. It runs from a Pre-School for children aged two, through a Junior School, into a senior school and a sixth form. David Wickes has led the school as Head since September 2022. GCSE and A-level results place it first in Portsmouth and in the top tier in England, and a September 2025 ISI inspection judged every Independent School Standard met. For families near the waterfront wanting academic ambition with genuine breadth, PGS is the obvious first stop.

PGS does not feel like a school sealed off from its city. It sits inside the fabric of Old Portsmouth, its buildings threaded along the High Street opposite Portsmouth Cathedral, and its identity is bound up with the naval and maritime history around it. The school was founded in 1732 under the will of Dr William Smith, a physician and former Mayor of Portsmouth, opened its doors on Penny Street in 1753 under the Reverend John Evans, and was re-founded as a Victorian grammar school in 1879. It moved to independence in 1976, admitting its first female sixth-form student, Tracey Villar, that same year, and reached full co-education across every year group in 1995. That long arc gives the place a settled confidence rather than any need to prove itself, and its alumni, known as Old Portmuthians, keep an active connection to the school.

Six words define daily life here: curiosity, creativity, commitment, courage, compassion and collaboration. These are not wall decoration. Core values of compassion and collaboration promote wellbeing effectively and shape a positive atmosphere in which pupils flourish academically and enjoy the opportunities available. Pupils sit at the centre of leaders' decision-making here, and they know they are safe and that their views are valued.

The tone is purposeful without being austere. A revised behaviour framework, introduced under the current leadership, acknowledges good conduct and applies proportionate, clearly understood sanctions when it slips, and pupils regard the approach as fair. There is a strong civic streak too. Pupils raise money for international projects and organisations, take on leadership and service roles, and maintain a close relationship with the community beyond the gates. The proximity of the cathedral is not incidental: PGS is the choir school for Portsmouth Cathedral, and its choristers sing the cathedral's services, threading music and worship through the week. This is a school that wants pupils to look outward, into their city and beyond it.

Results are the engine of PGS's reputation, and they hold up across both exam phases. Remember that the whole-school figure of roughly 1,142 spans every age group from Pre-School upward, so the headline results below relate to the senior school and sixth form, not the entire roll.

At GCSE, 45% of entries were graded 9 or 8 (the old A*), with a further 19.1% at grade 7, so 64.1% of all grades landed at 9 to 7. In FindMySchool's proprietary rankings, built from official examination data, the senior school sits 272nd of 3,895 schools in England for GCSE results, placing it in the top 7.0% (ranked against all schools in England with published GCSE results, state and independent). On the blended overall measure, which combines results with our inspection score, it ranks 253rd of 3,887. Within Portsmouth it is first. Because GCSE progress measures are not published for independent schools, that England ranking and its exact percentile are the clearest guide to standing, and both are strong.

The sixth form is stronger still. A-level candidates achieved 23.75% of entries at A*, 36.75% at A and 26% at B, so 60.5% reached A*-A against an England average of 23.6%, and 86.5% reached A*-B against an England average of 47.2%. In other words, nearly two in three A-level grades were A or above, at more than double the England rate. On results alone, the sixth form ranks 126th of 2,562 schools and colleges in England, the top 4.9%, and 128th of 2,561 on the overall measure. It is first in Portsmouth for A-level too. These are proprietary FindMySchool rankings drawn from official data, and they mark PGS out as one of the higher-performing sixth forms in the south of England.

Crucially, the picture is one of momentum rather than a single strong year. GCSE and A-level outcomes continue to improve at the higher grades, and pupils achieve well over their time in the school. For parents, that consistency across both the GCSE and A-level phases is what turns a good set of results into a dependable expectation.

The curriculum runs as one continuous line from early years to A-level, and it is broad, ambitious and academically and personally challenging. That coherence is a genuine advantage of an all-through school: a child who joins the Pre-School can move through the Junior and senior phases without the curriculum resetting at each transition, and staff know where a class has come from and where it is going.

Lessons are well planned and well taught, developing independence, intellectual curiosity and secure subject knowledge. A revised assessment framework tracks progress closely from the early years onward, so that gaps are identified and filled quickly, allowing pupils to advance rapidly from their individual starting points. That diagnostic habit, catching a weakness early and closing it, is what turns a bright intake into consistently high grades rather than leaving strong pupils to coast.

Support for pupils who need it is a deliberate strength. Those with special educational needs or disabilities receive thoughtfully targeted interventions from staff trained to adapt the curriculum to individual needs, and the school runs a purpose-built Learning Support Hub staffed by dedicated specialists offering individual and small-group teaching. Science benefits from the Bristow-Clavell Science Centre, opened in 2010, a dedicated building that gives the sciences room to run practical work properly. Across the school, the emphasis is on stretching the most able while making sure no one is quietly left behind.

Because PGS is all-through, three exit points matter. At the end of Year 6, most Junior School pupils progress internally into the senior school, and at 16 the great majority of Year 11 students continue into the school's own sixth form, joined by external entrants at 16-plus. Progression is not automatic in the way it would be at a state all-through: it depends on meeting the school's expectations. But for the great majority of pupils already thriving here, the path from age two to eighteen is a continuous one, which spares families the upheaval of applying elsewhere at eleven or sixteen.

The most consequential destination data is post-18. Of the 2023/24 leaving cohort of 135, 73% went on to university, with a further 1% into further education, 1% into apprenticeships and 13% into employment. In the most recent Oxbridge cycle, 21 students applied to Oxford or Cambridge and three won places, all at Cambridge. Careers guidance sits behind these outcomes: careers education is an important and appreciated element of the offer, with sixth-form students advised on their post-18 options and community and workplace placements built into the programme through the Community, Action, Workplace scheme. For families weighing sixth forms, our local hub comparison tool lets you line up PGS destinations against nearby schools side by side.

PGS admits at four principal points, with a rolling approach rather than a single annual gate. Children can join the Pre-School from age two, the Junior School at any year from age four to eleven, the senior school in Years 7 to 10, and the sixth form at Year 12. Applications for September entry are typically open well ahead of the year, and the school confirms current arrangements directly.

Entry is selective by assessment appropriate to the age group, and progression is not automatic: Junior School pupils move up into the senior school, and Year 11 students continue into the sixth form, on the basis of meeting the relevant expectations rather than by right alone. Sixth-form entry in particular carries GCSE requirements, with subject-specific grades expected for the more demanding A-levels, so families aiming at the sixth form should treat those thresholds as the practical target.

Because it is an independent school, PGS sets its own admissions rather than working through Portsmouth's coordinated scheme, so there is no published catchment distance to weigh. The practical questions for most families are the entry assessment and the fees rather than proximity. The school draws widely across Portsmouth, Gosport, Fareham and the surrounding area, helped by its transport network. International students entering the sixth form are placed with local host families through a homestay arrangement rather than in school boarding, since PGS does not run boarding houses. If you are comparing a home's location to the school run, the FindMySchool map search is a quick way to gauge the practical commute from your postcode.

Wellbeing at PGS is structural, not an afterthought. A dedicated Health and Wellbeing Centre, opened in 2017, gives pastoral and medical care a proper home on site. Provision for pupils' physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing meets all relevant Standards, and a broad range of recreational activities and sport contributes well to pupils' overall emotional and physical health. The message to parents is that the school treats wellbeing and achievement as one project rather than competing priorities.

Inspectors judged safeguarding effective, with governors highly committed to keeping children safe and staff well trained to understand local risks. The safeguarding team works closely with external agencies, and online safety is promoted through parent webinars and filtering systems, with regular Prevent training in place. A risk-aware, responsive culture runs across the school, and concerns are identified quickly so that pupils are protected from harm.

Pupils take on positions of leadership and service that promote the school's values, and a bespoke programme of personal, social, health and economic education, alongside relationships and sex education, is designed around their needs. Older students mentor younger ones, and the civic and charitable work that runs through the school gives pastoral care an outward-facing quality: pupils are encouraged not only to be looked after but to look after others.

Co-curricular life at PGS is genuinely broad, and music is the clearest pillar. As the choir school for Portsmouth Cathedral, directly across the High Street, its choristers sing the cathedral's services. In-house, music runs deep: four choirs, including Changing Voices for boys going through puberty, Male Voices, a Girls' Choir and a Chamber Choir, plus two orchestras, two string orchestras, a wind band, a swing band, five jazz ensembles, and further brass, percussion, chamber, close-harmony and woodwind groups. With more than 500 individual instrumental lessons a week taught by a large peripatetic staff, this is a serious musical operation, and the Chamber Choir, the school's premier vocal ensemble, has recorded commercially. The Music Rotunda gives performance a dedicated venue on site. For a musical child, few schools in the area offer this depth of provision alongside a genuine cathedral platform.

Drama and the performing arts are equally well served. Major productions and the annual musical transfer to the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth, a full professional stage, while the David Russell Theatre, opened in 1990, and the Gatehouse Studios host work on campus. Younger and older pupils are drawn in through the Middle School Drama Club, which runs at more than 40 members, a Year 9 Drama Club, a technical Stage Crew Club led by the school's theatre technician, and an inter-house House Drama Competition. Technical theatre alongside performance means pupils can find a place on stage or behind it.

Sport has scale and range. Most fixtures are played at Hilsea Playing Fields, a 17.5-acre site with four rugby pitches, an AstroTurf surface for hockey and tennis, five netball courts, seven tennis courts, two cricket squares and rounders pitches, served by the Fawcett Pavilion. On the main site there are two multi-purpose sports halls, three squash courts, a fitness suite, a dance studio and a rock-climbing wall. The school fields A to C teams in rugby, hockey, netball, tennis, cricket and athletics, so competitive sport reaches well beyond a single first team, launched its first girls' rugby team in 2024, and offers sailing and rowing that make full use of the waterfront setting.

Beyond the timetable, pupils take part in the Combined Cadet Force and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and choose from clubs spanning chess, photography, a wildlife club, classical singing, musical theatre, environmental investigations and outdoor survival skills. In the sixth form, enrichment is formalised. The timetabled Ignite! programme extends learning beyond core subjects, the Extended Project Qualification is open to all as a UCAS-recognised research qualification that can be essay-based, creative or practical, and the Community, Action, Workplace programme places students in local engagement, including placements supporting pupils with SEND. The 22 A-level subjects on offer span the humanities, sciences, languages and the arts, giving sixth-formers room to specialise or keep a broad slate.

Fees for 2026/27, inclusive of VAT, run from £16,452 a year for Reception to Year 2, to £17,352 for Years 3 and 4, £18,612 for Years 5 and 6, and £25,614 a year for the senior school and sixth form (Years 7 to 13). A refundable deposit of £500 and a registration fee of £120 apply, with a reduced £100 registration fee at Pre-School. For Pre-School fees, families should check the school's own fees page and the government's early-years funding guidance.

Financial support is real rather than nominal. Means-tested bursaries are offered at 11-plus, at 13-plus in exceptional cases, and at sixth-form entry, funded in part through the alumni-supported William Smith Fund, which exists to help pupils who need assistance to join the school. Merit scholarships are awarded in Art, Drama, Music and Sport, typically worth in the region of 3 to 6% of fees. The distinction matters: bursaries are income-assessed help that can, in some cases, cover a large share of the fees, while scholarships recognise talent and can be combined with a bursary. Parents should treat the scholarship values as an honour and a modest reduction rather than the main route to affordability; the bursary programme is the substantive form of assistance here.

PGS operates on a largely single site in Old Portsmouth, with the Junior School buildings nearby and playing fields at Hilsea. The school runs five home-to-school bus routes managed through Vectare, and a local shuttle links the Hovercraft terminal, Gosport Ferry and Portsmouth Harbour, making the school reachable from across the harbour. Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour stations are both within a fifteen-minute walk. Supervised transport runs Junior School and Years 7 to 11 pupils out to the Hilsea fields for games.

For Pre-School and early-years hours, wraparound arrangements and current start and finish times, families should confirm directly with the school, as these vary by phase. Government-funded early-years hours may be available to eligible families; see our guide to nursery funding.

Cost is the real gate. At £25,614 a year for the senior school and sixth form before extras such as transport and trips, PGS is a significant commitment. Bursaries and scholarships exist and are meaningful for eligible families, but scholarship awards of 3 to 6% are recognition rather than a large discount, so the fees should be planned for in full or through a means-tested bursary application.

Selective entry. Places at every stage are assessed, and progression from Junior to senior school and into the sixth form depends on meeting expectations rather than being guaranteed. Families should prepare for the relevant entry assessment and be clear about sixth-form grade requirements before committing.

Careers guidance for younger year groups. Careers education is a strength overall, but Years 7 and 8 have been flagged as an area to broaden, with guidance for younger pupils currently less wide-ranging. The school has been asked to develop this, so it is a work in progress rather than a settled strength.

Embedding the new behaviour system. The revised behaviour framework is well regarded, but the school has been asked to consolidate it so that staff apply it consistently and routines are fully embedded. Parents may see that bedding-in continue over the next year or two.

The Portsmouth Grammar School is an assured, high-performing all-through school that does the two hardest things at once: it produces results in the top 7.0% of England at GCSE and the top 4.9% at A-level, and it surrounds them with music, sport and service that give pupils a reason to be there beyond the exam room. A settled September 2025 inspection, effective safeguarding, and a curriculum built to run coherently from age two to eighteen make it a dependable choice as well as an ambitious one.

It is best suited to families in and around Portsmouth who want serious academic ambition combined with genuine breadth, and who can either meet the fees or are strong candidates for a bursary or scholarship. The main caveat is straightforward: cost and selective entry are the barriers, and the education behind them is the reward.