Ofsted: Good trending_up High Demand emoji_events #8 in Portsmouth public Top 37% UK

St Swithun's Catholic Primary School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMrs Jennifer Verhiest

location_onSouthsea, PO5 2RG

language Visit Website phone 2392829339

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2016

groups

Students

350

school

Expected Standard

69%

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Demand Ratio

1.5x

summarize

St Swithun's Catholic Primary School is a Voluntary aided school primary school in Southsea, serving ages 2-11. Rated Good by Ofsted. Highly competitive: 1.5× more applications than places — plan well ahead. Ranks in the top 37% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

St Swithun's Catholic Primary School is a voluntary aided school in Southsea, Portsmouth, admitting pupils aged 2-11. The school has approximately 354 pupils on roll, of whom 16% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 69% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 2% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #8 of 32 primaries in Portsmouth and #5,250 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2016. The school's current overall rating is Good.

The school is oversubscribed — in the most recent cycle, there were 1.5× as many applications as places, making a successful application competitive.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 24.1:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.0 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

69%

LA 51%

Reading76% LA 65%

Writing87% LA 63%

Maths76% LA 62%

Read SS

107

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

106

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

67%

LA 49%England 61%

Reading89% LA 65% · Eng 74%

Writing80% LA 60% · Eng 72%

Maths78% LA 63% · Eng 73%

Read SS

108

Maths SS

106

GPS SS

110

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

64%

LA 48%England 60%

Reading71% LA 63% · Eng 73%

Writing73% LA 61% · Eng 71%

Maths87% LA 64% · Eng 73%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

106

GPS SS

110

Progress (0 = national avg)

0.5

Read

LA -1.5

-1.4 to 2.4

-0.7

Write

LA -2.0

-2.5 to 1.2

1.0

Maths

LA -1.4

-0.8 to 2.8

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

89%

LA 55%England 65%

Reading89% LA 64% · Eng 73%

Writing96% LA 72% · Eng 78%

Maths98% LA 72% · Eng 79%

Read SS

107

Maths SS

109

GPS SS

111

Progress (0 = national avg)

2.4

Read

LA -1.5

0.6 to 4.2

1.1

Write

LA -2.3

-0.5 to 2.8

3.4

Maths

LA -1.8

1.8 to 5.0

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

61%

LA 53%

Reading84% LA 66%

Writing84% LA 70%

Maths68% LA 64%

Read SS

107

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

108

Progress (0 = national avg)

1.9

Read

LA -1.9

0.1 to 3.7

0.2

Write

LA -2.3

-1.5 to 1.9

-0.6

Maths

LA -2.1

-2.2 to 1

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

25 February 2025

Inspection Report

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24 September 2019

Inspection Report

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03 February 2016

Inspection Report

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03 October 2014

Inspection Report

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25 June 2014

Inspection Report

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13 February 2009

Inspection Report

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08 November 2005

Inspection Report

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09 October 2000

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

2 Evaluations

2016-02-03

Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 1 Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

2014-06-25

None Legacy

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.0%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.0%(0 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 354 pupils. During this period, there were 0 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.0%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	354	0.0%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	349	0.0%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	352	0.0%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	357	0.0%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	354	0.0%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	352	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	350	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	341	0.0%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	346	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	336	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	331	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	344	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	341	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	334	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	351	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	351	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	346	0.0%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	357	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	355	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	337	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	315	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	315	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	313	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	313	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	311	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	310	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Specific Learning Difficulty 12 pupils

Speech, Language & Communication 10 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 10 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 6 pupils

Multi-Sensory Impairment 2 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 1 pupils

Profound & Multiple Learning 1 pupils

Hearing Impairment 1 pupils

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St Swithun's Catholic Primary School

School Summary

Academic Performance

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Inspection History

Admissions Insight

How Places Are Allocated

Faith Priority (Roman Catholic)

Distance to School

School Capacity

Primary Admission Trends

Students & School Environment

School Size

Language Diversity

Inclusive Support

Attendance

Ethnicity Breakdown

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Funding & Staffing

School Funding Allocation

Funding Breakdown

Staffing

Teacher Turnover

Top Primary Schools in Portsmouth

St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School

Ark Ayrton Primary Academy

St George's Beneficial Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School

St Paul's Catholic Primary School

Westover Primary School

Ark Dickens Primary Academy