Hollybrook Infant School

About Hollybrook Infant School

Hollybrook Infant School is a state primary in Southampton that serves 173 pupils, just shy of its 180-place capacity. The school's intake reflects a notably higher-than-average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals, at 16.8%, compared with the national primary average of around 23% — so it sits below the national figure but still indicates a significant level of disadvantage in the local community. Demand for places is strong: for the 2025/26 admissions cycle, the school received 115 applications for 48 places, an oversubscription ratio of 2.4 applicants per place. Of those, 41 were first-preference applications, and all 41 received offers. This suggests that families in the area actively seek out Hollybrook, and the school is comfortably oversubscribed without being unattainable. The school is non-denominational, with no religious character, and is co-educational for children aged 4 to 7. Headteacher Marcella Dobson leads a team that, according to the most recent Ofsted parent view snapshot (covering September 2024 to September 2025), enjoys overwhelming support: 97% of the 35 respondents would recommend the school to other parents.

Academically, Hollybrook Infant School holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across both its graded inspection in February 2020 and its most recent ungraded inspection in June 2025, where inspectors confirmed that standards were being maintained. In the 2020 graded inspection, every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — was rated Good. The early years provision, which had been rated Requires Improvement in the previous 2015 inspection, has clearly improved. Because Hollybrook is an infant school (ages 4 to 7), there are no published Key Stage 2 SATs results or Progress 8 scores to compare against the local authority average of 55% for KS2 attainment. However, the parent view data offers a strong proxy: 69% of parents strongly agreed that their child does well at the school, and 57% strongly agreed that the school has high expectations. Only 3% strongly disagreed with either statement, suggesting a broadly positive academic experience for the youngest pupils.

The school offers a solid range of facilities for its size, including playing fields, a library, a gymnasium, music rooms, a dining hall, and a forest school area. Sports provision covers swimming, netball, cricket, and football, while clubs include art, coding, and film club. For children with additional needs, the school lists SEND provisions for social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder — though the parent view data on SEND support was inconclusive, with no responses recorded for that question. The school is oversubscribed, so families living closest to the site are likely to have the strongest chance of a place. Hollybrook suits parents who want a well-regarded local infant school with a strong community feel, a Good Ofsted rating, and a headteacher who has clearly built trust with families. It is not a faith school, and it does not offer nursery provision or a sixth form, so it is purely for the early primary years.

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