‘Wake-up call’: Portsmouth named one of England’s hardest places for children to grow up

Portsmouth named 12th hardest place to be a child in England as MP warns of ‘wake-up call’.

Portsmouth has been named the 12th hardest place in England to grow up, with poor education outcomes, homelessness and a lack of post-16 opportunities among the issues highlighted in a major new report.

The Children’s Commissioner’s new report, The Childhood Lottery, brings together more than 160 measures to examine the challenges facing children in every area of England.

The landmark dataset and interactive map ranks top-tier local authorities according to almost 100 measures.

Portsmouth ranked 12th hardest place to be a child in England, while areas covered by Hampshire County Council were among the 20 easiest places.

One of the most concerning findings was Portsmouth’s lack of post-16 educational provision with the city ranked joint worst in England.

In Portsmouth, 5.5 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds are NEET, compared with the English average of three per cent. This places the city among the 20 local authorities with the highest NEET populations.

School results also raised concerns, with just 34.6 per cent of Portsmouth pupils achieving a good pass in English and maths at GCSE – the fourth-worst rate in England.

Only 39.5 per cent achieve an Attainment 8 score at the end of Key Stage 4, the third-lowest average nationally.

The city also ranked among the bottom 15 local authorities for average A-level scores.

The report highlighted concerns about children's experiences in school, with 36.9 per cent of Portsmouth children saying they do not enjoy school.

This was the third-highest figure in England, with the rate among the ten best-performing local authorities ranging from 11.4 to 16.4 per cent.

The findings were reflected in school attendance figures. Unauthorised absence in mainstream schools stood at 3.05 per cent in 2024/25, above the national average of 2.3 per cent.

Portsmouth also had the third-highest unauthorised absence rate in special schools, at 7.6 per cent, raising further questions about support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The report also found that 18.6 per cent of children in Portsmouth did not feel they were treated fairly, the sixth-highest proportion in England.

In 2024/25, 64.6 per cent of households with children were still without accommodation after the prevention duty ended, almost double the national average of 35.4 per cent.

That placed Portsmouth fifth-highest among English top-tier local authorities.

The report also examined services delivered across wider areas, including youth mental health support provided by Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB).

The ICB had the tenth-lowest spending per child with an active referral to mental health services, at £966. By comparison, North West London, the highest-spending ICB, spent £2,410 per child.

However, the report also identified that Portsmouth had the sixth-lowest use of unregulated alternative provision, at 5.4 pupils per 10,000.

It also had low levels of children missing from education, high levels of breakfast provision in schools and 96 per cent of care leavers aged 17 to 21 were in contact with the council in 2025.

Responding to the findings, Portsmouth North MP Amanda Martin said: “Children in Portsmouth should not have their futures determined by their postcode. Right now, too many young people are growing up feeling let down, overlooked and held back. We owe them better, and we need urgent local action to make sure every child has the same opportunities as their neighbours.

“We’re tackling the NEETs crisis with more opportunities for young people. We’re expanding technical education so every young person has a pathway that’s right for them.

“We’re investing £1.4m in Portsmouth to create inclusive schools for children with SEND. We’re putting mental health support teams in every school. And we’re making sure no child goes hungry with new free breakfast clubs.

“As we look ahead to electing our first Mayor for Hampshire and the Solent, we must make sure children are at the top of the devolution agenda. How can it be fair that Hampshire is in the top 20 easiest places to be a child while Portsmouth is the 12th hardest. We must lift up areas like Portsmouth and create equal opportunities for children across our region.

“This report should be a wake-up call for all of us. Portsmouth's children deserve the same opportunities, support and hope as any other child in our region, and it's time we acted like it.”

Ms Martin raised the findings at Prime Minister’s Questions on October 21, where Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “It is why we are going deeper than just thinking about how we help people in their 20s or late teens into work. We need to rethink how we support young people in the 21st century in Portsmouth and elsewhere.

“One of the things is an education system that balances academic and technical education, that gives young people routes into good jobs, and the Education Secretary is working hard on that. I know that that would give all young people in Portsmouth a path to a good life. It is the kind of change that would make a difference, and I look forward to working with her on delivering it.”

Councillor Steve Pitt, leader of Portsmouth City Council said the authority had taken a leading role in bringing partners together to improve outcomes for children, pointing to its Children’s Trust arrangements and inclusive approach to education.

He said there had been encouraging signs of progress, including a five-percentage-point improvement last year in the proportion of five-year-olds achieving a Good Level of Development.

The council's Children's Services had also been graded 'outstanding' in every area by Ofsted.

However, he added: “Some of these challenges cannot be resolved by the council, schools or local partners alone. We have repeatedly raised with government the pressures facing children and young people, including the significant challenges some young people experience in accessing suitable provision when they leave school.

“We are a city council that seeks to bring money and resources in to support innovation work (as seen by our Priority Education Investment Area work and our leadership in the SEND Alternative Provision Change Programme) but we are reliant on national government who make decisions around these.”

“Our focus remains firmly on working together to give every child and young person in Portsmouth the opportunity to thrive.

"We would welcome the support of the MP for Portsmouth North who is well placed to lobby Ministers to ensure Portsmouth's children and young people have the best prospects for their educational journey.”