Manor Infant and Nursery School

About Manor Infant and Nursery School

Manor Infant and Nursery School serves children from age 2 to 7 in Portsmouth, and its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2024 rated it Good across every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. That consistency is worth noting because Portsmouth has no primary schools rated Outstanding at all, out of 45 in the local authority. So a solid Good here places the school among the stronger options locally. The school’s Key Stage 2 average attainment score is not published in the data, but the local authority average for KS2 is 53, which gives a useful benchmark for parents comparing schools in the area. With 44 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals, Manor Infant and Nursery serves a significantly disadvantaged intake compared with many primaries, making its sustained Good rating across two inspections — the previous one in 2017 was also Good — a meaningful indicator of consistent quality.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted report gives a Good rating for quality of education, and the same for early years provision, personal development, and behaviour and attitudes. The previous inspection in 2017 also awarded Good overall, with early years provision and leadership and management both rated Good at that time. While the data does not include specific Progress 8 or SATs results for the school, the fact that it has held a Good rating across both its recent inspections, despite serving a cohort where over two in five pupils are on free school meals, suggests the school is effective at supporting children from a range of starting points. The local authority average KS2 score of 53 provides a rough reference point, though without the school’s own score it is not possible to say whether pupils here outperform or underperform that benchmark. Parents looking for detailed academic outcomes would need to consult the full Ofsted report or ask the school directly.

The school offers a wide range of facilities for such a young age group, including a library, playing fields, gymnasium, sports hall, ICT suite, music rooms, a sensory room, and a forest school. There is also a chapel on site. Sports include swimming, tennis, athletics, cricket, dance and netball, and clubs run the gamut from eco club and coding to science club, film club and book club. The nursery provision means children can start from age 2, and the school has capacity for 326 pupils but currently has 258 on roll. Admissions data for 2025/26 shows it is oversubscribed: 86 applications for 36 places, with 33 first-preference offers made. That works out at 2.39 applications per place, so getting in is competitive. The school also lists SEND provisions covering social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, hearing impairment, physical disability, and other difficulties. This combination of strong pastoral support, broad enrichment, and consistent Ofsted grades makes it a particularly attractive option for Portsmouth families with younger children, especially those who value early years specialist provision.

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