Best secondary schools in Portsmouth

St Edmund's Catholic School is the top-ranked secondary school in Portsmouth (LocaleIQ score 89.4 out of 100). Ofsted: Outstanding. Attainment 8 58.9. The score combines Ofsted outcome, Progress 8 and Attainment 8, and cohort-weighted percentile ranks within the Portsmouth secondary pool.

St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School tops the Portsmouth primary school ranking (LocaleIQ 89.2). Ofsted: Good. KS2 expected 83% · higher 13%. See the full primary school ranking for Portsmouth for the complete list.

Attainment 8 measures average GCSE grades across eight subjects; Progress 8 compares actual grades against predictions based on KS2 — a positive figure means pupils outperformed expectations. Top performers in Portsmouth: St Edmund's Catholic School (Attainment 8 58.9); UTC Portsmouth (Attainment 8 48.3); Priory School (Attainment 8 44.7). Both metrics feed into the LocaleIQ secondary school score.

2 secondary schools in the Portsmouth ranking hold an Outstanding Ofsted rating: St Edmund's Catholic School, UTC Portsmouth. Outstanding means Ofsted judged the school exceptional in all inspection areas. LocaleIQ weighs DfE performance data alongside Ofsted, so a Good-rated school can still rank highly.

This ranking covers 10 secondary schools in the Portsmouth comparison pool. Schools without sufficient published data are excluded but may appear in the LocaleIQ directory.

By average LocaleIQ score across postcode areas, PO1 has the strongest cluster — 67.7 average across 2 ranked secondary schools. PO3 sits at the lower end (15.6 average). Portsmouth schools vary by catchment island, so postcode pairing is essential. Postcode averages mask individual variation — always review each school's full profile.