Ark Charter Academy
Academy sponsor led in Southsea, PO5 4HL, taking ages 11 to 16, 883 on roll.
Homes you looked at
Each measured from its postcode's centre against the 1.1 miles Portsmouth published for latest published year, as the checker measures.
Opened on this device and kept on it only: just their postcodes are sent, to this site, to measure them.
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Will an address get in?
In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.1 miles away.
Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.
How this compares: every Portsmouth school's distance, tightest first →
The circle is 1.1 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.
Ark Charter Academy: 1.1 miles Cumberland Infant School: 0.57 miles, published by Portsmouth
How to read this
Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Ark Charter Academy is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.
Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children and faith criteria come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.
Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary. The labels on the map are postcode districts whose centre falls inside both circles; each opens the district's guide.
The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.
Source: Portsmouth, published admission distances
Where Ark Charter Academy and Cumberland Infant School are both in reach
Both distances are drawn on the map above. Cumberland Infant School admitted from 0.57 miles in the latest published year, published by Portsmouth. Its own page has the rest of its figures.
No postcode district has its centre inside both distances. The two schools admit from 1.1 and 0.57 miles, and the ground those circles share holds no district centre, which is a fact about where the centres fall rather than about any one address. The map above shows both, and the postcode checker answers for both.
Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.
Drop Cumberland Infant School and go back to one school.
If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Portsmouth, 11 of 84 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (13.1%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.
Other schools nearby with a published distance
The closest schools to Ark Charter Academy that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.
| School | Phase | Admitted from | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Edmund's Catholic School Both in reach | Secondary | 0.51 mi | 0.2 mi |
| St John's Cathedral Catholic Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.24 mi | 0.3 mi |
| Priory School Both in reach | Secondary | 1.0 mi | 0.5 mi |
| St Jude's CofE Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.99 mi | 0.7 mi |
| St Swithun's Catholic Primary School Both in reach | Primary | 0.3 mi | 1.0 mi |
| Cumberland Infant School Both in reach | Primary | 0.57 mi | 1.2 mi |
The distance as a picture
What kind of school this is
| Admissions | Non-selective |
| Religious character | Church of England |
| Sixth form | Does not have a sixth form |
| How full | 883 pupils in 900 places (98% full) |
| Trust | ARK SCHOOLS |
| Local authority | Portsmouth |
Department for Education register (GIAS).
How the school is doing
| Attainment 8 | 38.9 (2024/25) |
| Year | Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | not published |
| 2023/24 | -0.32 |
| 2022/23 | -0.70 |
Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.
Who goes to Ark Charter Academy
| Girls and boys | 48.8% girls, 51.2% boys |
| English as an additional language | 41.8% of pupils |
| Free school meals | 65.6% of pupils eligible |
DfE school census, most recent published year.
Where Ark Charter Academy's Year 11 went next
| Stayed for the sixth form | 1.2% |
| Sixth-form college | 0.0% |
| Further education college | 75.8% |
| Apprenticeship | 0.6% |
| Employment | 4.8% |
| No sustained destination recorded | 10.3% |
DfE destination measures, 2022/23. Broad categories only: the DfE does not publish which named schools or colleges pupils moved to.
What it costs to live within reach of Ark Charter Academy
Cheapest district inside the 1.1 miles: PO1, median £83,000. Dearest: PO5, £172,000.
| District | Area | From the school | Median sold price |
|---|---|---|---|
| PO1 | Portsmouth | 0.2 mi | £83,000 10 sales |
| PO5 | Portsmouth | 0.5 mi | £172,000 114 sales |
How to read this
The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.1 miles the school admitted from in the latest published year, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.
How this compares across England: what a tight gate costs, school by school.
Source: HM Land Registry sold prices, via each district's area guide
Getting to Ark Charter Academy by bus
Best-served stop: Civic Offices, 0.1 mi away, with 18.8 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 03:10, last 02:08 after midnight.
Every stop within 600 m
| Stop | From the school | Weekday daytime, an hour | Evening | Sunday | Routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Lukes Church | 93 yd | 14.8 | 8.5 | 10.0 | 1, 2, 700, H1 |
| St. Lukes Church | 104 yd | 12.6 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 2, 1, 700 |
| Isambard Brunel Road | 128 yd | 9.8 | 6.2 | 7.7 | 1, 2 |
These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.
Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026
The fee-paying alternative
Weighing Ark Charter Academy against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around PO5: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at PO5 4HL, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →
Checking the house as well as the school
The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.
Common questions
What is the catchment area for Ark Charter Academy?
Ark Charter Academy does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in the latest published year lived 1.1 miles away, per Portsmouth.
How close do I need to live to get a place at Ark Charter Academy?
Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.1 miles was enough in the latest published year, and at 98% full the school has little slack. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.
Does buying a house near Ark Charter Academy guarantee a place?
No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings and faith criteria ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.
Every Portsmouth school's distance
All Portsmouth schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →
Put Ark Charter Academy's figure on your own site
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Admission distance published by Portsmouth. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.