Castle View Academy, Portsmouth

Ofsted's report card from its 2 June 2026 inspection grades Castle View Academy on 6 areas: 5 expected standard and 1 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Achievement - Expected standard. "Leaders have taken effective action to improve the achievement of pupils."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders have taken effective action to ensure that a well-sequenced and ambitious curriculum is in place across all subjects."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders have created an inclusive culture where pupils feel part of the school community."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders' actions to improve the quality of education have been highly effective."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Personal development is delivered through tutor time, ethics lessons, assemblies and across the curriculum."

Attendance and behaviour - Needs attention. "Pupils' attendance is below national averages."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that the range of strategies to improve attendance are fully embedded, so that this leads to high attendance for all groups of pupils"; "Leaders should ensure that pupils develop a detailed and secure understanding of the personal development curriculum that enables them to be well prepared for life after school".

In 2026, pupils at Castle View Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 39.2, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 41.2 in Portsmouth and 47 across England.

38% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 36% in Portsmouth and 47% in England.

That is up from 35.6 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.56: pupils made well 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 30.4, against 49.6 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 19.2 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 20 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Geography and Multimedia.

For September 2026 entry, 119 families put Castle View Academy as their first choice and 207 named it as one of their preferences, for 129 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 secondary schools to Castle View Academy are Portchester Community School (0.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 41.3); Cams Hill School (2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 51); UTC Portsmouth (2.3 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 48.8); and Trafalgar School (2.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 40.1).

Each of them had higher 2026 results than Castle View Academy.

Castle View Academy is one of 98 schools run by United Learning Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 49 in 2024/25.

Of the 107 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 64% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 63% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 4% into work.

58.1% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 11.5% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (80%) and Black (6%).

The nearest railway station is Portchester Rail Station, about 840 metres away (roughly a 11-minute walk).

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Truro Road (w-bound), 80 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 159 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Portsmouth (499).

In 2024/25, Castle View Academy issued 928 suspensions, 126.8 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 4 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Castle View Academy are The Victory Primary School (under 0.1 miles), Castle Primary School (0.6 miles), St Paul's Catholic Primary School (0.7 miles) and Northern Infant School (0.8 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.