Education in Portsmouth
Portsmouth’s permanent exclusion rate is below England’s, while suspensions are higher
Schools recorded 19 permanent exclusions and 4,650 suspension events in 2024/25. Compare rates per pupil as well as counts: a child can be suspended more than once.
Permanent exclusions: compare the rate
- Portsmouth0.068
- Southampton0.053
- England0.118
Portsmouth recorded about 6.8 permanent exclusions per 10,000 pupils in 2024/25. A permanent exclusion removes a pupil from that school, subject to the review process. Small local counts can produce large year-to-year changes.
Permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
2006/07 to 2024/25
Portsmouth · per 100 pupils
Reviewed figures: 2006/07 to 2024/25.
Shown on this chart: From 2006/07 to 2024/25, permanent exclusions per 100 pupils rose by 226% in Portsmouth and rose by 2.3% in England.
Both places compared over 2006/07 to 2024/25, using matching published dates.
Compared areas: Portsmouth; England.
Actual values
Each line joins consecutive published observations for that place. Missing dates remain gaps.
Hover or tap the chart for a value. Use the date slider with touch or arrow keys. Escape closes the chart label.
State-funded primary, secondary and special schools, by school location, full academic years. Suspension events can repeat for the same pupil; event rates are not the share of pupils suspended. Pandemic restrictions affected 2019/20 and 2020/21.
A matching Chichester district series is not published in this education-authority dataset. West Sussex covers a wider area.
Source, full data and definitions
Department for Education dataset ↗ · downloaded 2026-11-02. Latest year: published.
The table retains published values for 2020 and 2021 where available; GCSE lines leave gaps because grades were assessed rather than awarded through the usual exams. No 30-year local trend is claimed.
| Period | Portsmouth | Southampton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006/07 | 0.021 | 0.134 | 0.115 |
| 2007/08 | 0 | 0.129 | 0.109 |
| 2008/09 | 0.017 | 0.163 | 0.088 |
| 2009/10 | 0.025 | 0.127 | 0.077 |
| 2010/11 | 0.042 | 0.144 | 0.068 |
| 2011/12 | 0.101 | 0.04 | 0.068 |
| 2012/13 | 0.08 | 0.075 | 0.061 |
| 2013/14 | 0.05 | 0.066 | 0.064 |
| 2014/15 | 0.053 | 0.068 | 0.074 |
| 2015/16 | 0.064 | 0.079 | 0.084 |
| 2016/17 | 0.051 | 0.065 | 0.096 |
| 2017/18 | 0.073 | 0.035 | 0.098 |
| 2018/19 | 0.061 | 0.059 | 0.097 |
| 2019/20 | 0.045 | 0.049 | 0.061 |
| 2020/21 | 0.022 | 0.024 | 0.047 |
| 2021/22 | 0.033 | 0.045 | 0.078 |
| 2022/23 | 0.043 | 0.121 | 0.111 |
| 2023/24 | 0.089 | 0.102 | 0.129 |
| 2024/25 | 0.068 | 0.053 | 0.118 |
Suspensions: events can repeat
- Portsmouth16.58
- Southampton12.73
- England10.88
There were 16.58 suspension events per 100 pupils in Portsmouth, compared with 10.88 in England. This does not mean that 16.58% of pupils were suspended: some had more than one suspension.
Suspension events per 100 pupils
2006/07 to 2024/25
Portsmouth · per 100 pupils
Reviewed figures: 2006/07 to 2024/25.
Shown on this chart: From 2006/07 to 2024/25, suspension events per 100 pupils rose by 78.5% in Portsmouth and rose by 92.3% in England.
Both places compared over 2006/07 to 2024/25, using matching published dates.
Compared areas: Portsmouth; England.
Actual values
Each line joins consecutive published observations for that place. Missing dates remain gaps.
Hover or tap the chart for a value. Use the date slider with touch or arrow keys. Escape closes the chart label.
State-funded primary, secondary and special schools, by school location, full academic years. Suspension events can repeat for the same pupil; event rates are not the share of pupils suspended. Pandemic restrictions affected 2019/20 and 2020/21.
A matching Chichester district series is not published in this education-authority dataset. West Sussex covers a wider area.
Source, full data and definitions
Department for Education dataset ↗ · downloaded 2026-11-02. Latest year: published.
The table retains published values for 2020 and 2021 where available; GCSE lines leave gaps because grades were assessed rather than awarded through the usual exams. No 30-year local trend is claimed.
| Period | Portsmouth | Southampton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006/07 | 9.285 | 13.851 | 5.654 |
| 2007/08 | 8.355 | 11.911 | 5.134 |
| 2008/09 | 8.552 | 10.671 | 4.878 |
| 2009/10 | 7.396 | 10.669 | 4.438 |
| 2010/11 | 5.759 | 7.433 | 4.325 |
| 2011/12 | 7.006 | 7.672 | 4.033 |
| 2012/13 | 5.151 | 6.785 | 3.512 |
| 2013/14 | 4.989 | 4.822 | 3.5 |
| 2014/15 | 5.681 | 3.855 | 3.885 |
| 2015/16 | 6.955 | 4.309 | 4.287 |
| 2016/17 | 7.177 | 4.431 | 4.758 |
| 2017/18 | 10.294 | 4.373 | 5.076 |
| 2018/19 | 10.035 | 4.692 | 5.358 |
| 2019/20 | 4.409 | 3.779 | 3.764 |
| 2020/21 | 4.92 | 3.302 | 4.251 |
| 2021/22 | 6.514 | 5.783 | 6.91 |
| 2022/23 | 13.205 | 10.723 | 9.335 |
| 2023/24 | 17.004 | 14.436 | 11.307 |
| 2024/25 | 16.578 | 12.732 | 10.875 |
How many enrolments were affected?
- Portsmouth4.57%
- Southampton4.73%
- England3.89%
The share with at least one suspension was 4.57% in Portsmouth and 3.89% in England. This differs from the number of suspension events.
Affected enrolments over time
Pupil enrolments with at least one suspension
2006/07 to 2024/25
Portsmouth · %
Reviewed figures: 2006/07 to 2024/25.
Shown on this chart: From 2006/07 to 2024/25, pupil enrolments with at least one suspension rose by 0 percentage points in Portsmouth and rose by 0.9 percentage points in England.
Both places compared over 2006/07 to 2024/25, using matching published dates.
Compared areas: Portsmouth; England.
Actual values
Each line joins consecutive published observations for that place. Missing dates remain gaps.
Hover or tap the chart for a value. Use the date slider with touch or arrow keys. Escape closes the chart label.
State-funded primary, secondary and special schools, by school location, full academic years. Suspension events can repeat for the same pupil; event rates are not the share of pupils suspended. Pandemic restrictions affected 2019/20 and 2020/21.
A matching Chichester district series is not published in this education-authority dataset. West Sussex covers a wider area.
Source, full data and definitions
Department for Education dataset ↗ · downloaded 2026-11-02. Latest year: published.
The table retains published values for 2020 and 2021 where available; GCSE lines leave gaps because grades were assessed rather than awarded through the usual exams. No 30-year local trend is claimed.
| Period | Portsmouth | Southampton | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006/07 | 4.522 | 6.345 | 3.018 |
| 2007/08 | 3.741 | 5.224 | 2.741 |
| 2008/09 | 3.569 | 4.948 | 2.615 |
| 2009/10 | 3.364 | 4.417 | 2.407 |
| 2010/11 | 2.791 | 3.543 | 2.326 |
| 2011/12 | 3.239 | 3.619 | 2.152 |
| 2012/13 | 2.611 | 3.441 | 1.918 |
| 2013/14 | 2.31 | 2.481 | 1.856 |
| 2014/15 | 1.983 | 2.12 | 1.975 |
| 2015/16 | 2.289 | 2.373 | 2.111 |
| 2016/17 | 2.447 | 2.364 | 2.286 |
| 2017/18 | 3.263 | 2.172 | 2.329 |
| 2018/19 | 3.059 | 2.307 | 2.442 |
| 2019/20 | 1.932 | 1.807 | 1.872 |
| 2020/21 | 2.38 | 1.807 | 2.201 |
| 2021/22 | 2.735 | 2.832 | 3.017 |
| 2022/23 | 4.41 | 4.022 | 3.606 |
| 2023/24 | 4.847 | 5.383 | 4.041 |
| 2024/25 | 4.57 | 4.728 | 3.891 |
Primary, secondary and special schools
| Place | School phase | Permanent exclusions | Suspensions |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | State-funded primary | 0.033 | 2.47 |
| England | State-funded secondary | 0.226 | 21.24 |
| England | Special | 0.079 | 12.32 |
| Portsmouth | State-funded primary | 0.032 | 3.19 |
| Portsmouth | State-funded secondary | 0.113 | 32.45 |
| Portsmouth | Special | 0.129 | 54.05 |
| Southampton | State-funded primary | 0.01 | 3.65 |
| Southampton | State-funded secondary | 0.115 | 24.88 |
| Southampton | Special | 0 | 19.5 |
Coverage and publication notes
A 30-year comparable local series is not available for these current definitions.
2020 and 2021 GCSE assessed grades are retained in the full table but omitted from exam trend lines. Later grading transitions and cohort differences remain relevant.
2025/26 primary and GCSE results are provisional. Progress 8 is unavailable for 2024/25 and 2025/26 because the prior-assessment baseline was disrupted.
Education data extracted and checked 2 November 2026. Download the education data and source receipts →