Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery, Portsmouth

Ofsted's report card from its 14 April 2026 inspection grades Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery on 7 areas: 1 expected standard and 6 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Attendance is everyone's responsibility at the school."

Achievement - Needs attention. "Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, do not achieve as well as they should in national examinations."

Curriculum and teaching - Needs attention. "There are inconsistencies in teaching."

Early years - Needs attention. "Inconsistencies in practice mean that some children do not achieve as well as they could."

Inclusion - Needs attention. "The pupil premium strategy is not implemented consistently."

Leadership and governance - Needs attention. "Leaders are taking appropriate action in the right areas; however, it is not leading to rapid enough improvement in all areas."

Personal development and wellbeing - Needs attention. "The curriculum for personal development is new."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that teaching identifies misconceptions in pupils' understanding effectively so that pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve well"; "Leaders should ensure that pupils develop the knowledge and skills they need in writing, with a focus on fluent handwriting, sentence structure and letter formation"; "Leaders should ensure that the personal, social and health education curriculum is implemented effectively across the school so that groups of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, develop their knowledge and understanding securely"; "Leaders should ensure that, in the early years, high-quality adult interactions build on children's learning so that they achieve consistently well".

From the headteacher's welcome: "On behalf of the Trust, local governors and staff team, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery. At the heart of everything that we do are the children. The time that they spend with us is an extremely precious period of enormous growth and change."

The school runs after-school care.

In 2025, 59% of Year 6 pupils at Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery reached the expected standard in reading and 50% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 70% and 68% in Portsmouth and 77% and 75% across England.

Results were similar in 2024 (60% in reading, 53% in maths).

For September 2026 entry, 69 families put Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery as their first choice and 155 named it as one of their preferences, for 74 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state primary schools to Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery are St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School (0.1 miles, Good, 93% reading, 87% maths); Ark Dickens Primary Academy (0.3 miles, Good, 72% reading, 73% maths); Ark Ayrton Primary Academy (0.4 miles, Good, 78% reading, 81% maths); and Penbridge Infant School (0.4 miles, Good).

Each of them had higher 2025 results than Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery.

Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery is one of 17 schools run by University of Chichester (multi) Academy Trust, an academy trust.

57% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 36.4% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (53%), Asian (15%) and Black (13%).

In 2026, 108 pupils (16.2%) received SEN support and 63 (9.4%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.

Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery has a SEN unit for speech, language and communication needs and moderate learning difficulties: 24 places, 24 pupils on roll.

The nearest railway station is Portsmouth & Southsea Rail Station, about 700 metres away (roughly a 9-minute walk).

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Clifton Street (e-bound), 270 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery 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 1161 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and public order offences. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Portsmouth (499), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery issued 59 suspensions, 8.5 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The secondary schools closest to Arundel Court Primary Academy and Nursery are St Edmund's Catholic School (0.2 miles), The Portsmouth Academy (0.4 miles), Ark Charter Academy (0.4 miles) and Priory School (0.5 miles).