Special school in Christchurch, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Portfield School
Parley Lane, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 6BP
Ofsted
Standards maintained at the last ungraded inspection, on 27 November 2024.
Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.
Exam results
Special schools serve pupils whose needs the standard measures were not designed to describe, so results are not shown or ranked here.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 144
- Places
- 150
- How full
- Nearly full — 144 of 150 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 31 / 113
- Overall absence
- 8%
- Persistently absent
- 27%
England 5.8%
England 14.7% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 34%
- English as an additional language
- 5%
- With an EHC plan
- 100%
- On SEN support
- 0%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
- In education, work or training
- 100%
- Stayed in education
- 100%
- Started an apprenticeship
- 0%
- Stayed at this school's sixth form
- 0%
- No sustained destination
- 0%
- Pupils in the cohort
- 13
England 91.4%
England 85.4%
England 3.5%
England 5.8%
A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 002D, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.
- Adults with a degree
- 29%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 18%
- Households owning their home
- 80%
- Households in social housing
- 6%
- Households with no car
- 8%
- Adults economically inactive
- 52%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Non-maintained special school
- Phase
- Special
- Ages
- Ages 4–19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Headteacher
- Head Teacher: Anna Hewitt
- Local authority
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
- Ward
- Commons
- Constituency
- Christchurch
- URN
- 113942
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest special schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linwood SchoolCommunity special school | No grade | — | 3 mi |
| The White House SchoolOther independent special school | No grade | — | 3.3 mi |
| Langside SchoolNon-maintained special school | No grade | — | 3.4 mi |
| The Lion Works SchoolOther independent special school | No grade | — | 3.5 mi |
| The Stable SchoolOther independent special school | No grade | — | 3.6 mi |
| Winchelsea SchoolCommunity special school | Good 2022 | — | 3.7 mi |
| Victoria Education CentreNon-maintained special school | No grade | — | 4.5 mi |
| Sheiling SchoolOther independent special school | No grade | — | 4.7 mi |
Where these figures come from
- School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
- Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25.
- Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
- Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
- Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.
All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.