Cliffdale Primary Academy
Cliffdale Primary Academy is a sponsored special academy in Portsmouth for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It has 218 pupils, 2 more than it has places for. About 56 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted visited in November 2025 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Battenburg Avenue, North End, Portsmouth, PO2 0SN023 9266 2601cliffdaleprimaryacademy.infoMrs Nicola Payne headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 18 November 2025. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.
Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 9 February 2022 | Ungraded | School remains Outstanding |
Results
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
27 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | Portsmouth | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 27 | 27 | 22 | 19 | 23 | 17 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 56% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 8% |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Reading progressReading progress score | – | – | -13.7 | -7.2 | -9.1 | -7.8 | – | – |
| Maths progressMaths progress score | – | – | -14.0 | -5.4 | -8.9 | -8.3 | – | – |
| Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – | – |
| Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – | – |
There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At the end of primary school, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Portsmouth council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 35 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for all schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (141), language and communications needs (64), Severe learning difficulty (4), Moderate learning difficulty (3), emotional and mental health (3), Physical disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 218 | 219 | 205 | 215 | 203 | 185 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 56% | 58% | 54% | 47% | 45% | 49% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 23% | 24% | 23% | 23% | 23% | 20% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 1% | 13% | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 87% | 85% | 83% | 82% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.4% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 7.6% | 8.3% | 9.4% | 10.1% | 6.0% | 4.2% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 6.9% | 7.7% | 8.1% | 9.1% | 4.8% | 3.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.7% | 0.6% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 0.5% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 27.5% | 24.4% | 32.5% | 32.0% | 16.9% | 9.7% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayfield School | Academy | 190 m | 1,354 | Inadequate 2022 | 1 | Compare |
| King's Academy College Park (Junior) | Academy | 570 m | 434 | No overall grade 2024 | 10 | Compare |
| King's Academy College Park (Infant) | Academy | 580 m | 304 | Good 2023 | 43 | Compare |
| King's Academy Northern Parade (Infant) | Academy | 610 m | 231 | No overall grade 2024 | 41 | Compare |
| Gatcombe Park Primary School | Academy | 640 m | 203 | Good 2023 | 39 | Compare |
| King's Academy Northern Parade (Junior) | Academy | 660 m | 352 | Good 2023 | 16 | Compare |
| Trafalgar School | Academy | 850 m | 1,031 | Good 2023 | 51 | Compare |
| UTC Portsmouth | University technical college | 850 m | 491 | Report card 2025 | 50 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Cliffdale Primary Academy a good school?
Cliffdale Primary Academy doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from November 2025 rated its teaching as strong.
What is Cliffdale Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 18 November 2025 it rated teaching as strong, achievement as strong, behaviour and attendance as strong, leadership as strong.
How good are Cliffdale Primary Academy's SATs results?
In summer 2025, 0% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 0% went further and reached the higher level.
How many pupils does Cliffdale Primary Academy have?
218 pupils aged 4 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 216 places, so it is 101% full.
What is attendance like at Cliffdale Primary Academy?
Pupils were in school 92.4% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 28% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about Cliffdale Primary Academy?
100% of the 35 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 100% say their child is happy there. Across England, 84% of parents would recommend their child's school.
Does Cliffdale Primary Academy have a breakfast club?
Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Battenburg Avenue, North End, Portsmouth, PO2 0SN
- Telephone
- 023 9266 2601
- Website
- www.cliffdaleprimaryacademy.info
- Headteacher
- Mrs Nicola Payne
- Free breakfast club
- Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
- Type of school
- Sponsored special academy (Academy special sponsor led, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 4-11, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Solent Academies Trust (6 schools)
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Ward
- Hilsea
- Constituency
- Portsmouth North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 December 2013 (new provision)
- URN
- 139967 · LAESTAB 8517000 · UKPRN 10042710
- Formerly
- Cliffdale Primary School
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2024/25.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Breakfast club: DfE list of schools on the free breakfast club programme.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.