SCHOOL PROFILE

Highcliffe St Mark Primary School

Primary Foundation school URN 134987
Open
Pupils 8,834,192 Latest school census
Capacity 654 Published school capacity
Capacity used 99.5% Pupils as a share of capacity
Age range 3 – 11 Statutory age range
OFSTED

Latest graded inspection

11 June 2024
Latest published outcome Requires improvement
OEIF
Quality of education Requires improvement
Behaviour & attitudes Good
Personal development Good
Leadership & management Requires improvement
SCHOOL DETAILS

About this school

School type Foundation school
Phase Primary
Gender Mixed
Religious character Church of England
Local authority Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Trust Christchurch Learning Partnership and Church of England
Census date 15 January 2026
PUPIL PROFILE

School community

Latest published pupil characteristics for 2025/26.

2025/26
Total pupils 651 625 full-time · 26 part-time
Female pupils 322 49.5% of pupils
Male pupils 329 50.5% of pupils

Free school meals

Pupils eligible for free school meals.

6.1%
18.7 pts below England
School 6.1%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 19.5%
South West 20.1%
England 24.8%

English as an additional language

Pupils whose first language is not English.

2.9%
17.4 pts below England
School 2.9%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 16.9%
South West 10.7%
England 20.3%

Young carers

Pupils recorded as young carers.

0.6%
0.4 pts below England
School 0.6%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 4.1%
South West 1.5%
England 1.0%

Ethnicity

Largest recorded pupil groups.

White British
91.2%
594
Any other White background
2.6%
17
Unclassified
1.2%
8
White and Asian
1.1%
7
Any other ethnic group
0.9%
6
White and Black African
0.9%
6
Council, regional and national comparisons are pupil-weighted using published school census counts.
ADDITIONAL NEEDS

Special educational needs

Pupils receiving SEN support or with an education, health and care plan.

2025/26
Pupils with SEN 10.0% 65 of 651 pupils
10.8 pts below England England: 20.8%
School 10.0%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 21.4%
South West 21.7%
England 20.8%
SEN support 6.6% 43 pupils
England 14.8% 8.2 pts below
EHC plans 3.4% 22 pupils
England 6.0% 2.7 pts below
PRIMARY NEEDS

Most common identified needs

Pupils
Speech, language & communication 23
Social, emotional & mental health 16
Autistic spectrum disorder 10
Moderate learning difficulty 6
Specific learning difficulty 4
Hearing impairment 2

SEN comparisons are pupil-weighted using published 2025/26 Department for Education school-level data. Primary needs combine pupils receiving SEN support and pupils with EHC plans.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Key stage 2 outcomes

Published Department for Education results for 2024/25.

2024/25
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading, writing & maths

58.0% 2.4 pts below England
School 58.0%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 59.0%
South West 58.4%
England 60.4%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading

78.0%

4.2 pts above England

School 78.0%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 71.6%
South West 73.1%
England 73.8%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Writing

67.0%

3.3 pts below England

School 67.0%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 69.7%
South West 69.4%
England 70.3%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Maths

75.0%

3.0 pts above England

School 75.0%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 69.9%
South West 70.5%
England 72.0%
School results show the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard. Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages and are not pupil-weighted official attainment rates.
ATTENDANCE & ABSENCE

Attendance profile

Published Department for Education absence data for 2024/25. Lower absence rates are generally better.

2024/25
ABSENCE RATE

Overall absence

5.20%

Percentage of possible sessions missed.

1.01 pts lower than England
School 5.20%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 6.58%
South West 6.20%
England 6.22%
ABSENCE RATE

Persistent absence

12.09%

Pupils missing 10% or more of sessions.

3.73 pts lower than England
School 12.09%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 16.30%
South West 15.08%
England 15.82%
ABSENCE RATE

Severe absence

0.73%

Pupils missing 50% or more of sessions.

1.07 pts lower than England
School 0.73%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 2.12%
South West 1.90%
England 1.80%
Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages rather than pupil-weighted official absence rates.
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

School context

Comparison with open primary schools.

CAPACITY

Capacity utilisation

99.5% 11.4 pts above England
Highcliffe St Mark Primary School
99.5%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
88.7%
South West
84.2%
England
88.2%
Benchmarks use open schools in the same phase. Capacity utilisation is calculated from published pupil and capacity figures.
Sources: Department for Education · Get Information about Schools · Ofsted monthly management information