Ark Charter Academy, Southsea

From the headteacher's welcome: "Welcome to Charter Academy, a school that has high expectations for all who attend. Charter is a special place. We are an academy with heart, with heritage and most importantly an academy where faith is important."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, netball, drama, choir, coding, STEM, art, debating and Duke of Edinburgh.

In 2026, pupils at Ark Charter Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 39.9, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 41.2 in Portsmouth and 47 across England.

32% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 36% in Portsmouth and 47% in England.

That is up from 38.9 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.32: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 37.4, against 44.4 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 7 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 17 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Religious Studies and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 133 families put Ark Charter Academy as their first choice and 377 named it as one of their preferences, for 180 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 2 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Ark Charter Academy are St Edmund's Catholic School (0.2 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 56); Priory School (0.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 43.4); The Portsmouth Academy (0.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 34.5); and Miltoncross Academy (1.2 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 35.8).

Ark Charter Academy's 2026 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.

Ark Charter Academy is one of 48 schools run by ARK Schools, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 47.7 in 2024/25.

73 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Ark Charter Academy (as of September 2025): 64% would recommend the school, 75% say their child is happy there and 49% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that the school has high expectations for their child (82%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (49%).

Of the 173 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 89% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 82% to a further education college and 2% into work.

65.6% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 41.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (39%), Black (15%) and Asian (14%).

The nearest railway station is Portsmouth & Southsea Rail Station, about 320 metres away (roughly a 4-minute walk).

13 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is St. Lukes Church, 90 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Ark Charter Academy stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 1309 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Portsmouth (499), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Ark Charter Academy issued 513 suspensions, 55.9 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 3 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Ark Charter Academy are Ark Ayrton Primary Academy (0.2 miles), St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School (0.3 miles), Cottage Grove Primary School and Nursery (0.4 miles) and Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery (0.4 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.