School Chooser

The Wymering School

Special · ages 9-16MixedFree school77 pupilsPortsmouth
School Chooser ScoreNot scoredWe don't score this type of school.
OfstedAs expected teachingOfsted report card, June 2026
Strong pass in English and maths0%England 46%
Attendance79.0%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families57%Far more than most schools
PlacesFull77 pupils, 66 places
Pupils per teacher5.7School workforce census

The Wymering School is a special free school in Portsmouth for boys and girls aged 9 to 16. It has 77 pupils, 11 more than it has places for. About 57 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted visited in June 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.

Sevenoaks Road, Portsmouth, PO6 3YB023 9200 1535thewymeringschool.comHeadteacher Sally Rogers headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted visited on 2 June 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.

TeachingOfsted calls this “curriculum and teaching”
As expected
Achievement
As expected
Behaviour and attendanceOfsted calls this “attendance and behaviour”
Strong
Support for every childOfsted calls this “inclusion”
Strong
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development and wellbeing”
Strong
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and governance”
As expected
SafeguardingAre pupils kept safe?
Pupils are kept safe
Met
Ofsted's scale:ExceptionalStrong standardExpected standardNeeds attentionUrgent improvement

Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.

Results

GCSE results, summer 2025

18 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.

Average GCSE score0.7
England 46.8
Official name: Attainment 8
Strong pass in English and maths0%
England 46%
Official name: Grade 5+ in English and maths
Standard pass in English and maths0%
England 66%
Official name: Grade 4+ in English and maths
All GCSE measures, year by year
Measure20252024PortsmouthEngland
Pupils at the end of Year 11181
Average GCSE scoreAttainment 80.742.046.8
Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths0%38%46%
Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths0%60%66%
Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score0.073.704.15
Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry0%43%41%
Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged0.0
Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged1.6

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

4 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.

Reached the expected level at 11Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected levelOfficial name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading scoreOfficial name: Reading average scaled score
Maths scoreOfficial name: Maths average scaled score
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure20252024PortsmouthEngland
Pupils tested49
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths0%56%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths0%3%8%
Expected level: readingReading expected standard0%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard0%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)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 GCSE, 2025

Average GCSE scoreLow-income pupils vs other pupils
0.01.6
Gap 1.6England 12.2
Strong pass in English and mathsLow-income pupils vs other pupils
0%0%
No gapEngland 22 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

Open to all. There is no entrance test.

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 the school teaches, from the latest school census.

Pupils on roll77Census January 2026
Places66117% full
Pupils from low-income families56%57% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English4%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support0%0 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan100%77 pupils with a plan
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)59%£52,000 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls65 / 12
White British pupils86%

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (32), emotional and mental health (31), language and communications needs (9), Moderate learning difficulty (2), Specific learning difficulty (2), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024
Pupils on roll777365
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals56%51%46%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language4%4%3%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support0%6%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans100%94%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 79.0% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance79.0%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school58.9%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils6.92024/25, 1 permanent exclusion
Missed without permission4.2%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/23England
Sessions missedOverall absence21.0%22.1%25.2%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence16.9%17.2%19.8%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence4.2%4.9%5.5%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence58.9%54.6%53.3%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate6.93.1
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions10

Staff and money

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

Teachers13.6full-time equivalent, 14 people
Pupils per teacher5.7Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers71%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants22.4full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£54,207
Teachers who left in the year23%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher4.32024/25

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.

Spend per pupil£62,726England £30,720. Total £4.6m
Income per pupil£65,411England £33,526. Total £4.8m
Spent on teachers per pupil£19,247England £11,966
Money in reserve9%A healthy amount put by: £450k, £6,160 per pupil. England 16%
Money in against money out+£196kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£62,726spent 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 m59512 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate208 per 1,000 people128% higher than the England average
Typical house price£257,500Portsmouth
Nearest bus stop100 mQA Hospital Main, 20 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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Portsdown Primary SchoolCouncil200 m398Good 202413Compare
Medina Primary SchoolCouncil640 m204No overall grade 202538Compare
Court Lane Infant AcademyAcademy0.7 miles346Good 202442Compare
Court Lane Junior AcademyAcademy0.7 miles474Good 202421Compare
Beacon View Primary AcademyAcademy0.8 miles233No overall grade 202518Compare
Highbury Primary SchoolAcademy1.0 miles391Report card 202530Compare
St Paul's Catholic Primary SchoolRoman Catholic1.0 miles272Good 202359Compare
City of Portsmouth CollegeFurther education1.1 milesNot inspectedCompare

Questions parents ask

Is The Wymering School a good school?

The Wymering School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted's report card from June 2026 rated its teaching as as expected.

What is The Wymering School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 2 June 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as strong, leadership as as expected.

How good are The Wymering School's GCSE results?

In summer 2025, 0% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 0.7, against 46.8 for England.

How many pupils does The Wymering School have?

77 pupils aged 9 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 66 places, so it is 117% full.

What is attendance like at The Wymering School?

Pupils were in school 79.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 59% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Sevenoaks Road, Portsmouth, PO6 3YB
Telephone
023 9200 1535
Website
thewymeringschool.com
Headteacher
Headteacher Sally Rogers
Type of school
Special free school (Free schools special, free schools)
Phase
Special school, ages 9-16
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Multi-academy trust
Southern Education Trust (11 schools)
Local authority
Portsmouth
Ward
Paulsgrove
Constituency
Portsmouth North
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 April 2023 (academy free school)
URN
149336 · LAESTAB 8517002 · UKPRN 10091688

Recent changes

  • New KS4 results for 2024/25

Where these figures come from