Moorings Way Infant School
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Moorings Way Infant School is a converter academy in Southsea for boys and girls aged 4 to 7. It has 116 pupils and room for 135. About 17 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 54 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 51% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in January 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.
Moorings Way, Milton, Southsea, PO4 8YJ0333 360 2170meonwayfederation.org.ukMrs Sara Paine headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted visited on 13 January 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 22 September 2021 | Ungraded | School remains Good |
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
29 places were empty (19% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have fallen by 20% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.
The last child to get a place lived 570 m away in 2026. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils, faith and other priority groups are placed first. After that, the closer you live, the better your chances. Type in your postcode to see how far away you are.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. More children applied than there were places. The last place went to a child living 570 m from the school. Living closer than that didn't guarantee a place, but living much further away meant missing out that year.
| Entry | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 Primary | 570 m | LA |
What a home within 570 m of the school costs
Every home sold within that distance of the school (the typical cut-off over the last three years), of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 22 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 primary schools with enough answers to publish.
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.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (10), emotional and mental health (9), Other difficulty or disability (2), Autistic spectrum disorder (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 116 | 127 | 121 | 149 | 151 | 167 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 17% | 17% | 17% | 19% | 25% | 26% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 8% | 6% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 10% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 11% | 19% | 6% | 3% | 8% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 7% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 2% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.0% 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 | 5.0% | 4.2% | 4.4% | 7.1% | 2.9% | 4.1% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.4% | 3.1% | 3.3% | 6.2% | 2.3% | 3.1% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.6% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.9% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 9.7% | 9.7% | 7.3% | 21.2% | 7.2% | 3.5% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 3.2 | 10.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meon Infant School | Academy | 730 m | 133 | No overall grade 2025 | 52 | Compare |
| Meon Junior School | Academy | 730 m | 336 | Report card 2025 | 31 | Compare |
| Langstone Primary Academy | Academy | 860 m | 620 | Good 2021 | 39 | Compare |
| Milton Park Primary School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 382 | Good 2024 | 33 | Compare |
| Westover Primary School | Academy | 0.7 miles | 226 | Good 2022 | 70 | Compare |
| Wimborne Primary School | Council | 0.8 miles | 557 | Good 2023 | 27 | Compare |
| Cumberland Infant School | Council | 1.0 miles | 172 | Good 2022 | 65 | Compare |
| Fernhurst Junior School | Council | 1.1 miles | 349 | Good 2023 | 32 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Moorings Way Infant School with the 47 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 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 54 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 54% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 26 to 78. 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% | in line | -0.06 | Ofsted report card, 0.7 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 0% | no data | – | |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | -0.02 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | +0.06 | 2024/25; 72 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 0% | no data | – | |
| What parents say | 5% | above | +0.05 | Ofsted's Parent View survey, allowing for how many parents replied; 22 responses |
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 Moorings Way Infant School a good school?
It is about average. Moorings Way Infant School scores 54 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 51% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 26 to 78, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Moorings Way Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 13 January 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 Moorings Way Infant School have?
116 pupils aged 4 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 135 places, so it is 86% full.
Is Moorings Way Infant School oversubscribed, and how far away can you live?
Yes. For September 2026 the last place went to a child living 570 m away. Children in care, brothers and sisters of current pupils and other priority groups come before distance, so the cut-off moves every year.
What is attendance like at Moorings Way Infant School?
Pupils were in school 95.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 10% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about Moorings Way Infant School?
96% of the 22 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 96% say their child is happy there. Across England, 87% of parents would recommend their child's school.
How big are the classes at Moorings Way Infant School?
The average class had 23.7 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Moorings Way, Milton, Southsea, PO4 8YJ
- Telephone
- 0333 360 2170
- Website
- www.meonwayfederation.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sara Paine
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- The Thinking Schools Academy Trust (26 schools)
- Local authority
- Portsmouth
- Ward
- Baffins
- Constituency
- Portsmouth North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 July 2017 (academy converter)
- URN
- 144582 · LAESTAB 8512709 · UKPRN 10064482
- Formerly
- Moorings Way Infant 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.
- 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.
- Admissions outcomes: Portsmouth council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- 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.