Portfield Primary Academy

About Portfield Primary Academy

Portfield Primary Academy in Chichester holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained since its last graded inspection in 2016, with a subsequent ungraded visit in 2021 confirming the school remains Good. The most telling academic metric for this primary school is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which sits at 45%. That figure is notably below the West Sussex local authority average of 56%, placing Portfield in the bottom half of schools nationally on this measure. The school’s ranking within Chichester is 24th out of 38 primary schools, and it falls in the bottom 50% tier nationally. However, the picture is not uniformly low: 69% of pupils met the expected standard in writing, and 62% did so in maths, both closer to national norms. Reading is the weaker area, with only 48% reaching the expected level. At the higher standard, the school achieves 10% across reading, writing and maths combined, with writing the strongest at 17%.

Looking more closely at the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, the average scores in reading (100) and maths (101) are around the national average, suggesting that while many pupils are not reaching the higher threshold, the majority are achieving a solid baseline. The school’s Progress 8 data is not available, so it is difficult to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. The Ofsted breakdown from the 2016 inspection rated leadership and management, early years provision, and overall effectiveness all as Good. The previous inspection in 2014 had rated the school as Requires Improvement, so the trajectory has been positive. With 40.1% of pupils eligible for free school meals, Portfield serves a community with above-average disadvantage, which may partly explain the gap between its raw outcomes and the local average. The school’s capacity is 285, and it currently has 267 pupils on roll.

Portfield offers a broad range of facilities including a forest school, music rooms, art studios, a gymnasium and playing fields, plus clubs such as choir, eco club, chess, coding and gardening. Sports provision includes athletics, swimming, tennis and gymnastics. The school has a strong SEND offer, with provisions for autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language communication needs, social and emotional mental health, dyslexia, physical disability and moderate learning difficulty, plus a resourced provision. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: 79 applications for 44 places, with 31 offers made to first-preference applicants out of 32 who put it first. This suggests it is a popular choice locally, particularly for families who value its inclusive SEND support and forest school ethos. It would suit parents looking for a community primary with strong pastoral and specialist provision, especially for children with additional needs, and who are comfortable with academic results that are below the local average but improving from a previous Requires Improvement baseline.

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