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Trafalgar School

Academy sponsor led in Portsmouth, PO2 9RJ, taking ages 11 to 16, 1,031 on roll.

Good Ofsted, Oct 2023
1.72 mi Admitted from, latest published year
103% Full, over capacity
43.5 Attainment 8, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.72 miles away.

Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.

The circle is 1.72 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

This is not a catchment area. 1.72 miles was last year's outcome, not a boundary and not a promise.
How to read this

Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When Trafalgar School 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 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 it; 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

Two schools, both in reach

Two children, or a first and second preference? Add a second school to see where both are in reach, cheapest districts first. Only a school with a published distance can be added.

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 Trafalgar School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
Gatcombe Park Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.18 mi 0.2 mi
Mayfield School Both in reach Secondary 1.13 mi 0.6 mi
Highbury Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.33 mi 0.7 mi
Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.93 mi 0.9 mi
Copnor Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.75 mi 1.1 mi
Admiral Lord Nelson School Both in reach Secondary 1.07 mi 1.2 mi

The distance as a picture

Trafalgar School catchment area map: the 1.72 mile admission distance and the postcode districts inside it
Drawn to scale from the published figure, with the districts whose centre falls inside. Save the picture, or share this page and this is the card that appears.

What kind of school this is

AdmissionsNon-selective
Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formDoes not have a sixth form
How full 1,031 pupils in 1,000 places (103% full, over capacity)
TrustTHE SALTERNS ACADEMY TRUST
Local authorityPortsmouth

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Good, inspected 23 October 2023
Attainment 8 43.5 (2024/25)
YearProgress 8
2024/25 not published
2023/24 -0.19
2022/23 -0.40

Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.

Who goes to Trafalgar School

Girls and boys48.0% girls, 52.0% boys
English as an additional language13.0% of pupils
Free school meals41.6% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

Where Trafalgar School's Year 11 went next

Stayed for the sixth form2.0%
Sixth-form college0.7%
Further education college78.4%
Apprenticeship3.3%
Employment4.6%
No sustained destination recorded5.9%

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 Trafalgar School

Cheapest district inside the 1.72 miles: PO6, median £240,000. Dearest: PO3, £267,500.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
PO6 Portsmouth 1.1 mi £240,000 62 sales
PO2 Portsmouth 0.9 mi £250,000 162 sales
PO3 Portsmouth 1.1 mi £267,500 148 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.72 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 Trafalgar School by bus

Best-served stop: Trafalgar School, 66 yd away, with 22.8 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 03:29, last 05:40.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Trafalgar School66 yd22.814.514.823, 2, 3, 7, 700, SD7
Old London Road106 yd17.710.211.823, 3, 7, 700
Coach and Horses0.1 mi22.814.514.823, 2, 3, 7, 700, SD7

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 Trafalgar School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around PO2: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at PO2 9RJ, 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 Trafalgar School?

Trafalgar School 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 1.72 miles away, per Portsmouth.

How close do I need to live to get a place at Trafalgar School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.72 miles was enough in the latest published year, and at 103% 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 Trafalgar School guarantee a place?

No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings 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 Trafalgar School's figure on your own site

A small badge with the published distance that links back here, for a school website, parents' group or forum.

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Trafalgar School badge

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.