Hope Community School Southampton

About Hope Community School Southampton

Hope Community School Southampton is a state primary in the city, and its headline academic metrics sit noticeably below the local authority average. The school’s Key Stage 2 combined reading, writing and maths expected standard was 33%, compared with the Southampton average of 55% for all primary schools. That gap is significant and places the school in the bottom half of the local authority ranking — 38th out of 54 primaries. In the wider South East region it sits near the bottom, and nationally it falls in the bottom 5% of schools by this measure. The school’s Progress 8 scores for reading, writing and maths are not available in the data, so it is difficult to say how much of the low attainment is due to pupils’ starting points. What is clear is that the raw outcomes are well below what most families in Southampton would expect from their local primary.

In its most recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in February 2022, the school was rated Good overall and Good across every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. That is a solid rating, though it is worth noting that Southampton has seven primary schools rated Outstanding, including St Mary’s Church of England Primary School & Nursery just 0.4 km away. On the KS2 results themselves, the school’s reading average score was 104 and maths 102, both close to the national average of 100. However, the proportion of pupils reaching the higher standard in reading was just 11%, in maths 15%, and in writing 0%. No pupils reached the higher standard in the combined reading, writing and maths measure. The school’s ranking score of 33 (based on the percentage reaching the expected standard in all three subjects) places it in the bottom 50% nationally.

Hope Community School is a Christian primary with 222 pupils on roll, well below its capacity of 420. It is oversubscribed for 2025/26, with 28 first-preference applications for 28 places and a total of 52 applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.86. The school offers a range of facilities including a forest school, sports hall, music rooms, chapel and outdoor playground. Sports include rounders, gymnastics, dance and netball, and clubs cover coding, eco club and art club. The school has a broad SEND offer, with provisions for dyslexia, speech and language needs, autistic spectrum disorder, hearing impairment and social, emotional and mental health needs. With 42.3% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively disadvantaged catchment. Families who prioritise a Christian ethos, small school feel and strong SEND support may find it a good fit, though those focused on top-tier academic outcomes may want to look at higher-performing local options.

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