Schools in Waterlooville: Primaries, Secondaries & Admissions

Schools in the Waterlooville area

Waterlooville, Cowplain, Purbrook, Denmead, Horndean and Clanfield sit within Hampshire County Council's education area, in Havant Borough, and are served by a mix of community schools and academies at both primary and secondary level. Ofsted grades below are confirmed on reports.ofsted.gov.uk as at 26 September 2026; where a current grade could not be confirmed, it has been left out rather than guessed.

Hart Plain Infant School, Hart Plain Avenue, Cowplain, PO8 8RZ, is a community infant school. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, reported 3 July 2023, rated it Good overall.

The Cowplain School, a secondary school in Waterlooville, was inspected by Ofsted in May 2024 and rated Good overall, with Good judgements for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

Horndean Technology College, Barton Cross, Horndean, Waterlooville, PO8 9PQ, is a secondary academy. Its most recent inspection, on 5 November 2024, rated quality of education and behaviour and attitudes as Good, and personal development and leadership and management as Outstanding.

Horndean Church of England Junior School was most recently inspected on 14 July 2026, with the report published 21 September 2026 — too recent for a confirmed overall grade to be verified at the time of writing. Check reports.ofsted.gov.uk directly for the published grade.

Other schools serving the area include Warblington School in Havant, a coeducational community secondary, and Oaklands Catholic School on Stakes Hill Road, Waterlooville, a Catholic academy with a sixth form. Both fall within or near the Havant Federation of local secondary schools, alongside Horndean Technology College, Purbrook Park School and Crookhorn College. Confirm current Ofsted grades for any school you're considering directly on reports.ofsted.gov.uk before relying on them, as inspection cycles mean a grade can be a few years old.

How Hampshire school admissions work

Hampshire County Council runs a single, borough-wide admissions system for every state school in the area, including Waterlooville — you don't apply to individual schools directly for a normal-round place. Instead, you submit one application through hants.gov.uk/admissions, ranking your preferred schools, and the council allocates places using each school's published oversubscription criteria (usually distance from home, siblings already at the school, and any faith or catchment criteria).

Reception (Year R) applications for September 2027 entry — for children born between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023 — must be submitted by 15 January 2027.

Year 7 (secondary) applications for September 2027 entry must be submitted by 31 October 2026; families who apply on time receive their offer on 1 March 2027.

Applying on time matters: a late application is dealt with after all on-time applications have been allocated, which can mean missing out on a preferred nearby school. If your circumstances change or you need to submit late, Hampshire's admissions team can advise on the process at hants.gov.uk.

A note on academies

Several secondary schools in the area, including Horndean Technology College and Oaklands Catholic School, are academies. Academies are still admitted through the same Hampshire coordinated admissions system, but can set their own oversubscription criteria and term dates independently of the council — always check directly with the school for its specific arrangements alongside the county-wide process.

What happens if you don't get your preferred school

If your child isn't offered a place at any of your ranked preferences, Hampshire's admissions team will normally allocate the nearest school with a place available and write to explain why each preference wasn't met. You have the right to appeal any refusal to an independent appeal panel, and Hampshire's admissions pages set out how and when to do this for both the Reception and Year 7 rounds — appeal deadlines are separate from the application deadlines above, so check the offer letter for your specific timeframe.

Applying partway through the school year

If you're moving into the Waterlooville area outside the normal admissions round — mid-way through a school year, for example — you apply for an "in-year" place rather than waiting for the next September round. In-year applications go through the same hants.gov.uk admissions portal but are assessed against whichever places are currently available at each school, so outcomes can differ from the main round.