Devonshire Infant School
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Devonshire Infant School is a council school in Southsea for boys and girls aged 4 to 7. It has 171 pupils and room for 190. About 28 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, about the same as most schools in England. We give it 13 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 10% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in May 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Francis Avenue, Southsea, PO4 0AG023 9273 4902devonshire.portsmouth.sch.ukMrs Rachel Arnold headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 19 May 2026. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 29 June 2022 | Ungraded | School remains Good |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
The school is full, with 1 more pupils than it has places for. More families apply than can get in, so things like how close you live and whether an older brother or sister is already here decide who gets a place. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.
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.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
Specialist SEND provision. SEN unit with 10 pupils, for autism, speech, language and communication.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Portsmouth with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (15), Autistic spectrum disorder (10), emotional and mental health (6), Physical disability (4), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 171 | 181 | 183 | 181 | 185 | 182 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 28% | 31% | 33% | 35% | 32% | 21% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 30% | 36% | 35% | 31% | 28% | 24% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 10% | 10% | 9% | 9% | 10% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 8% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 5% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.5% 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 | 5.5% | 5.6% | 5.5% | 6.6% | 2.9% | 3.6% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.7% | 4.1% | 4.2% | 5.3% | 2.3% | 2.5% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.8% | 1.6% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 0.6% | 1.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 17.4% | 16.0% | 14.3% | 22.5% | 4.8% | 6.3% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.6 | 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 council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary 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 primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernhurst Junior School | Council | 70 m | 349 | Good 2023 | 32 | Compare |
| Bramble Infant School and Nursery | Council | 330 m | 162 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Wimborne Primary School | Council | 580 m | 557 | Good 2023 | 27 | Compare |
| Cumberland Infant School | Council | 690 m | 172 | Good 2022 | 65 | Compare |
| Penbridge Infant School & Nursery | Academy | 710 m | 207 | Good 2022 | 20 | Compare |
| Craneswater Junior School | Council | 760 m | 508 | Good 2022 | 22 | Compare |
| Southsea Infant School | Council | 910 m | 167 | Report card 2026 | 7 | Compare |
| Ark Ayrton Primary Academy | Academy | 960 m | 495 | Good 2024 | 67 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Devonshire Infant School with the 48 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 48 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 48 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Devonshire Infant School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woolston Infant School | Academy | 15.1 miles | 160 | Good 2024 | 67 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 13 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 13% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 6 to 31. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | below | -0.29 | Ofsted report card, 0.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | below | -0.19 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | below | -0.09 | 2024/25; 132 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Devonshire Infant School a good school?
The figures are weak. Devonshire Infant School scores 13 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 10% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 6 to 31, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.
What is Devonshire Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 19 May 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.
How many pupils does Devonshire Infant School have?
171 pupils aged 4 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 190 places, so it is 90% full.
Is Devonshire Infant School oversubscribed?
Probably. The school was full in 2024/25, with 1 more pupils than places. How close you live, and the school's other admissions rules, decide who gets in.
What is attendance like at Devonshire Infant School?
Pupils were in school 94.5% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 17% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Devonshire Infant School?
The average class had 22.0 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
Does Devonshire Infant School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has sen unit for autism, speech, language and communication. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Francis Avenue, Southsea, PO4 0AG
- Telephone
- 023 9273 4902
- Website
- www.devonshire.portsmouth.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rachel Arnold
- Type of school
- Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Ward
- Central Southsea
- Constituency
- Portsmouth South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 116187 · LAESTAB 8512648 · UKPRN 10080436
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.
- 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.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- 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.