SchoolFacts.uk

Castle Primary School

Primary · Fareham · PO16 9QQ

Data updated

⇄ Compare with another school
Good

Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system

This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.

Quality of education: GoodBehaviour & attitudes: OutstandingPersonal development: OutstandingLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 12 March 2024

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

384 pupils · 91% of 420 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Community school
Age range
4–11
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
15.9% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
5.9% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
16.3% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
4.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
www.castleprimaryschool.co.uk/
URN
116083

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 41 families named it first for 48 Reception places, 0.85 first choices per place. Its last Reception place offered on distance for 2020 entry went to 0.44 miles; distance decided places in 2 of the 8 years of Reception rounds we hold, 2019 to 2026. Ofsted last graded it Good on 12 March 2024, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 4.9% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.85 first-choice applications per place

48 places offered · 41 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2020 entry, the most recent year with a distance-only cutoff) lived within 0.44 miles

measured in a straight line.

Would you have got in? Check your postcode

One free check a month, no account needed: your postcode against this school's cutoff history. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools you would be inside, and the address check across every school at once.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

59 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
68%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
8%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
105
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
106
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025

This school68%
Median of its 12 closest peers67.5%
Hampshire average63.6%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is in line with the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedResult
Lower Darwen Primary SchoolDarwen · 207 miles awayGood41%
Blakeley Heath Primary SchoolWolverhampton · 125 miles awayGood (2016)81%
Park Gate Primary SchoolSouthampton · 7 miles awayGood51%
Botley Church of England Controlled Primary SchoolSouthampton · 8 miles awayGood77%
Hilltop Primary SchoolRochester · 80 miles awayGood62%
Jotmans Hall Primary SchoolBenfleet · 88 miles awayRequires improvement67%
West Monkton Church of England SchoolTaunton · 85 miles awayGood60%
White Woman Lane Junior SchoolNorwich · 163 miles awayOutstanding71%
Herne Church of England Junior SchoolHerne Bay · 104 miles awayOutstanding81%
St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School, HavantHavant · 5 miles awayGood58%
Cragside CofE Controlled Primary SchoolCramlington · 293 miles awayExpected standard71%
Eastbrook Primary AcademyBrighton · 39 miles awayRequires improvement68%

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 84% (Hampshire 79%, England 60%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Hampshire 1%, England 2%) · Not recorded 2% (Hampshire 1%, England 1%) · Any other White background 2% (Hampshire 5%, England 7%) · Black African 2% (Hampshire 2%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Black African 2% (Hampshire 1%, England 1%) · Any other ethnic group 1% (Hampshire 1%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 1% (Hampshire 2%, England 4%) · Any other Mixed background 1% (Hampshire 2%, England 3%) · Black Caribbean 1% (Hampshire 0%, England 1%) · other groups together 1%

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
4.9%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
14%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

0.51 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Hampshire: 2.99 suspensions and 0.01 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

Suspensions and exclusions, last three years Premium

Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
20.8
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

94% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 6% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained primaries: 0.18% vacant, 0.36% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

61.9% of teachers took sickness absence, 5.7 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £49,923; 14.3% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%

Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium

Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2025-26)

This school£6,407
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 79% (76%) · premises 6% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 8% (8%) · supplies and services 7% (9%) · educational supplies 4% (4%) · bought-in professional services 3% (3%) · catering 4% (5%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve -£35,638; in-year balance -£13,147

Spending and reserves, last three years Premium

Premium shows the same figures for each of the last three years.

Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →

Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
7/10less deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
6/10around the middle for England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher29.4%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications17.3%18.1%
In managerial or professional work32.9%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways17.5%18.1%
Residents in very good health42.8%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier75.5%62.3%
Social housing16.2%17.1%
Privately rented7.8%20.5%
Detached houses13.6%22.9%
Flats14.4%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms14.2%21.1%
Households with no car or van19.8%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01022761 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£320,000329 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£275,000–£375,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (33)£388,000
Semi-detached (191)£320,000
Terraced (78)£316,500
Flat (27)£195,000

Homes around this school are dearer than most school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Reception cutoff distance (0.71 km, 2020 entry): 184 sales, median £318,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
1an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
0an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
7an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
0an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools