School Chooser

Solent Junior School

Primary · ages 7-11MixedAcademy359 pupilsPortsmouth
School Chooser Score
34
Below
similar schools
Likely range 20 to 53, so it could be “in line”
Out of 100. Better than 18% of the 50 schools most like it. Much the same over the last five years.
Reached the expected level at 1158%England 63%
Attendance95.3%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families13%Far fewer than most schools
Places1 spare359 pupils, 360 places
Pupils per teacher25.6School workforce census
Pupils on roll359Census January 2026

Solent Junior School is a converter academy in Portsmouth for boys and girls aged 7 to 11. It has 359 pupils and room for 360. About 13 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 34 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 18% of the 50 schools most like it.

Solent Road, Drayton, Portsmouth, PO6 1HJ023 9237 5459solentjunior.thesolentschools.orgMrs Lucy Wilby executive headteacherAll details

Ofsted

Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

90 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1158%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level11%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score106.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score104.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 60%60%20172018: 71%71%20182019: 60%60%20192023: 53%53%20232024: 61%61%20242025: 58%58%2025
Since 2017: -2%Steady overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017†PortsmouthEngland
Pupils tested909090909389
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths58%61%53%60%71%60%56%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths11%8%9%2%5%8%3%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score106.0104.0104.0104.0106.0104.0104.2105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score104.0104.0103.0103.0104.0104.0103.0104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score106.0107.0105.0105.0107.0105.0103.3105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard78%72%69%73%81%75%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard73%79%67%79%81%78%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)76%76%60%74%80%76%
Reading progressReading progress score-1.6-1.9-1.1-2.4
Maths progressMaths progress score-1.5-3.2-2.2-2.2
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged36%22%21%43%43%55%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged62%65%59%61%76%60%

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.

† These results are for Solent Junior School, the school this one replaced in April 2017. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.

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. None of the gaps 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

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
36%62%
Gap 26 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
51%65%
Gap 14 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
0%11%
Gap 11 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

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.

Full360 pupils for 360 places, 2024/25
100% full

The school is full. 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.

Pupils on roll359Census January 2026
Places360100% full
Pupils from low-income families13%13% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English6%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support18%65 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan5%17 pupils with a plan
Average class size29.99 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils22%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)14%£77,500 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls171 / 188
White British pupils83%

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (38), emotional and mental health (19), language and communications needs (15), Hearing impairment (3), Physical disability (3), Autistic spectrum disorder (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll359360362363361357
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals13%13%12%12%9%7%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language6%4%5%4%3%4%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support12%9%10%9%8%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans4%3%3%3%2%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.3% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.3%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school9.3%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils0.32024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.2%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence4.7%5.3%4.9%6.1%2.9%3.1%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.5%3.9%3.6%5.1%2.4%2.3%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.2%1.4%1.2%1.0%0.5%0.8%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence9.3%13.2%12.1%15.4%5.7%7.3%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate0.30.30.80.80.0
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers14.0full-time equivalent, 18 people
Pupils per teacher25.6Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants6.4full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£45,651
Teachers who left in the year13%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher8.82024/25

Money

From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£5,714England £7,128. Total £2.1m
Income per pupil£5,617England £7,587. Total £2.0m
Spent on teachers per pupil£2,697England £3,405
Money in reserve7%Not much put by: £144k, £400 per pupil. England 9%
Money in against money out-£35kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£5,714spent per pupil

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

Crimes within 500 m8512 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate38 per 1,000 people58% lower than the England average
Typical house price£257,500Portsmouth
Nearest bus stop160 mSouth Road, 7 stops within 500 m

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.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Solent Infant SchoolAcademy180 m269Not inspectedCompare
Morelands Primary SchoolCouncil0.8 miles315Good 202213Compare
Court Lane Infant AcademyAcademy0.8 miles346Good 202442Compare
Court Lane Junior AcademyAcademy0.8 miles474Good 202421Compare
Highbury Primary SchoolAcademy1.1 miles391Report card 202530Compare
Portsdown Primary SchoolCouncil1.3 miles398Good 202413Compare
Purbrook Junior SchoolCouncil1.4 miles380Report card 202647Compare
Purbrook Infant SchoolCouncil1.4 miles270Not inspectedCompare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Solent Junior School with the 49 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 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats18%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the bottom quarter of its group. Its score of 34 is 25 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 17 · middle 60 · highest 96100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 49 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Solent Junior 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.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Botley Church of England Controlled Primary SchoolChurch of England11.0 miles357Good 202381Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 34 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 34% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 20 to 53. 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 atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%in line
-0.03
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 90 pupils
Ofsted inspection0%no data
Progress pupils make20%below
-0.18
DfE progress measure; 90 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%above
+0.05
results and attendance rising year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%above
+0.06
2024/25; 364 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%below
-0.09
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 90 pupils
What parents say0%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 Solent Junior School a good school?

The figures are weak. Solent Junior School scores 34 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 18% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 20 to 53, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

How good are Solent Junior School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 58% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 11% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Solent Junior School have?

359 pupils aged 7 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 360 places, so it is 100% full.

Is Solent Junior School oversubscribed?

Probably. The school was full in 2024/25. How close you live, and the school's other admissions rules, decide who gets in.

What is attendance like at Solent Junior School?

Pupils were in school 95.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 9% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Solent Junior School?

The average class had 29.9 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 22% of classes 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
Solent Road, Drayton, Portsmouth, PO6 1HJ
Telephone
023 9237 5459
Website
solentjunior.thesolentschools.org
Executive Headteacher
Mrs Lucy Wilby
Type of school
Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
Phase
Primary school, ages 7-11
Gender
Mixed
Multi-academy trust
The de Curci Trust (3 schools)
Local authority
Portsmouth
Ward
Drayton and Farlington
Constituency
Portsmouth North
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 April 2017 (academy converter)
URN
144193 · LAESTAB 8512666 · UKPRN 10063469
Formerly
Solent Junior School

Where these figures come from