Orchard Infant School
Orchard Infant School is a converter academy in Southampton for boys and girls aged 4 to 7. It has 270 pupils and every place is taken. About 10 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2022.
Water Lane, Dibden Purlieu, Southampton, SO45 4SB023 8084 3705orchard-inf.co.ukMrs Nicola Wells headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 8 March 2022, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Outstanding overall.
This inspection is more than 4 years old. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of one grade.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
The last child to get a place lived 1.8 miles away in 2023. 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.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (19), Moderate learning difficulty (12), emotional and mental health (6), Physical disability (4), Vision impairment (2).
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.7% 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 | 4.3% | 3.8% | 4.2% | 5.8% | 1.8% | 3.9% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.6% | 2.9% | 3.5% | 4.9% | 1.6% | 3.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.7% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.7% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 6.6% | 6.2% | 7.1% | 12.4% | 1.7% | 6.1% | 12.8% |
† These attendance figures are for Orchard Infant School, the school this one replaced in November 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchard Junior School | Council | 0 m | 355 | Report card 2026 | 30 | Compare |
| Wildground Infant School | Council | 860 m | 185 | Good 2023 | 21 | Compare |
| Wildground Junior School | Council | 900 m | 197 | Not inspected | 76 | Compare |
| Hythe Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 238 | Good 2022 | 39 | Compare |
| Waterside Primary School | Council | 0.8 miles | 170 | No overall grade 2024 | 28 | Compare |
| Manor Church of England Infant School | Church of England | 2.1 miles | 49 | Good 2023 | 42 | Compare |
| Marchwood Church of England Infant School | Church of England | 2.5 miles | 162 | Good 2023 | 61 | Compare |
| Cadland Primary School | Council | 2.6 miles | 379 | Good 2023 | 70 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Orchard Infant School a good school?
Orchard Infant School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it outstanding at its last inspection in March 2022.
What is Orchard Infant School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Orchard Infant School outstanding at its last full inspection on 8 March 2022. That was more than four years ago. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of a single grade.
How many pupils does Orchard Infant School have?
270 pupils aged 4 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 270 places, so it is 100% full.
What is attendance like at Orchard Infant School?
Pupils were in school 95.7% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 7% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Orchard Infant School?
The average class had 30.0 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
- Water Lane, Dibden Purlieu, Southampton, SO45 4SB
- Telephone
- 023 8084 3705
- Website
- www.orchard-inf.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Nicola Wells
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 4-7
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- University of Winchester Academy Trust (8 schools)
- Local authority
- Hampshire
- Ward
- Dibden & Dibden Purlieu
- Constituency
- New Forest East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 November 2025 (academy converter)
- URN
- 152144 · LAESTAB 8502230 · UKPRN 10099147
- Formerly
- Orchard 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.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: Hampshire council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
- 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.