St Swithun's Catholic Primary School

About St Swithun's Catholic Primary School

St Swithun's Catholic Primary School sits well above the Portsmouth average for its key stage 2 results, with 67% of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a local authority average of 53%. That 14-point gap places the school comfortably in the top tier of primary schools in the city, ranking 7th out of 32 schools on this measure and in the top 50 nationally. The school is oversubscribed by a ratio of 2.67 to 1, with 123 applications for 46 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, and 45 of those offers went to first-preference families. It's a Roman Catholic state primary for mixed genders aged 2 to 11, led by headteacher Jennifer Verhiest, and its most recent Ofsted inspection in February 2025 confirmed that standards are being maintained at Good, a notable improvement from the Requires Improvement rating it received in 2014.

Looking closer at the 2023/24 key stage 2 results, reading stands out as a particular strength: 89% of pupils reached the expected standard and 33% achieved a higher score, with an average scaled score of 108. Maths followed closely with 78% at expected and 30% at higher, averaging 106. Writing was slightly lower at 80% expected and just 4% at higher, which is a common pattern nationally. The school's overall ranking score of 67 places it 5th in Portsmouth when all primary schools are considered, and it sits in the 39th percentile regionally in the South East. Parent feedback is overwhelmingly positive: 99% of the 80 respondents would recommend the school, and 81% strongly agreed that their child is happy there, with similarly high scores for safety, behaviour and communication from staff.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a chapel, sensory room, ICT suite, gymnasium, sports hall, music rooms and art studios, and runs clubs such as chess, coding, choir, science club and film club. Sports on offer include swimming, athletics, netball, gymnastics and tennis. For children with additional needs, the school lists provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, multi-sensory impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. With nursery provision on site from age 2, this is a school that suits Catholic families in Portsmouth who value strong academic outcomes, a clear improvement trajectory and a community where parents feel genuinely involved and informed.

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