St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy, Belper
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is a primary school for pupils aged 4 to 11 in Belper, part of St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust. It has a Roman Catholic religious character. It was rated Outstanding at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in October 2014. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in May 2025 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 4th-highest of the 13 schools in Belper with published results, and 1,534th of 14,452 across England. It was 83% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- Above England average
- Ofsted
- Outstanding (2014)
- Demand
- Every first choice offered
- Attendance
- Better than England average
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 81 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Derbyshire (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy in detail
Results
In 2025, 90% of Year 6 pupils at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy reached the expected standard in reading and 90% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 76% and 73% in Derbyshire and 77% and 75% across England.
Results were similar in 2024 (91% in reading, 84% in maths).
With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.
Getting a place at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy
For September 2026 entry, 21 families put St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy as their first choice and 34 named it as one of their preferences, for 21 places offered. That is one first choice for every place. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.
Admissions history and your chances at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy are Long Row Primary School (0.3 miles, Good, 73% reading, 67% maths); St John's CofE Primary School and Nursery (0.5 miles, Good, 70% reading, 68% maths); Pottery Primary School (0.9 miles, Requires improvement, 68% reading, 53% maths); and Herbert Strutt Primary School (1.1 miles, Good, 82% reading, 86% maths).
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy's 2025 results were higher than all 4 of them.
Long Row Primary SchoolSt John's CofE Primary School and NurseryPottery Primary SchoolHerbert Strutt Primary School
The trust
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is one of 25 schools run by St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust, an academy trust.
All 25 schools in St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust
What parents say
35 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy (as of September 2025): 91% would recommend the school, 100% say their child is happy there and 77% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child is happy at the school (100%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (77%).
Who goes there
12% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 7.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
The largest ethnic groups are White British (80%), Mixed (10%) and Black (5%).
In 2026, 41 pupils (24.6%) received SEN support and 5 (3%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is social, emotional and mental health needs.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Belper Rail Station, about 770 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).
10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is St Elizabeths Primary School (adjacent), 40 metres away.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy issued 3 suspensions, 1.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE multi-academy trust performance data; Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); DfE exclusions statistics
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 1 year agoThis judgement is from October 2014, 12 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Early Years
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's May 2025 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Your child will learn in a warm, caring environment where they are happy and feel safe. The school has a strong focus on reading from the start of Reception, and pupils develop a real love of books and reading. Character development is a real strength - your child will have opportunities to lead and make a positive difference in their school and community.
Key Strengths
- Strong reading culture with well-structured phonics teaching and ambitious reading curriculum
- Outstanding personal development programme that prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain
- Caring, family atmosphere where pupils support each other and show mature attitudes to learning
- Clear systems for identifying and supporting pupils with SEND who access the same ambitious curriculum
- Pupils take pride in leadership roles and make a positive impact on their school and community
Areas for Improvement
- In some subjects, assessment strategies are not effective enough to check pupils understand key knowledge over time, causing some gaps in learning
- Curriculum sometimes not well adapted to individual pupil needs, resulting in some pupils being given tasks that are too easy or too challenging
- In mathematics, higher attaining pupils do not always get opportunities to think more deeply
- In some subjects, recap activities are not designed well enough to reinforce prior learning
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with school creating an open and positive culture that puts pupils' interests first.
Extracurricular Activities
Faith-based activities, leadership roles in school
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is a harmonious and caring school with a strong culture of mutual respect and kindness. Pupils are happy, feel safe, and achieve well across the curriculum.
At a Glance
12.0%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
35 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
Primary Performance (KS2)
Academic year 2024/25KS2 Results (% meeting expected standard)
Reading has remained stable at around 90% (2024 to 2025). Maths has improved from 84% to 90% (2024 to 2025). Writing has declined from 75% to 70% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
26.0
Avg class size
20.0
Infant (KS1)
27.5
KS2
5
Total classes
1 class with more than 30 pupils
2025/26 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 5 nearby primary schools
Keep up with St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy
Before and after school care
Clubs on Ofsted's childcare register at or near St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy.
- Long Row Zest410m away · Not yet graded
- Primary KidZ Care & St Johns Primary School and Nursery710m away · Not yet graded
Term dates
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is an academy, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Derbyshire's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Train Stations
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is in Derbyshire; for families living there:
- Derbyshire's school travel policy: Home to school transport policy 2026 to 2027 - 465KB
- How to apply: Apply for home to school transport assistance
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 11
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 2
- Children hurt
- 1
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 11 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 2 serious and 9 slight.
1 child aged 0 to 15 was hurt: 1 on foot.
2 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Derbyshire is 6 (the median across 454 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy
Will you get a place at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy:
- The straight-line distance from your home to St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Derbyshire, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy for 2019 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Derbyshire got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
83%
Available places
174 pupils
210 places
36 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Belper
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Belper
Across Derbyshire council
Places available
9,875
Applications
7,189
Got 1st preference
94.5%
Got preferred school
99.2%
All primary applications across Derbyshire council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History(2)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
41
SEN Support
5
EHC Plans
27.5%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
167
Total Pupils
74
Boys
93
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
10
Teachers
16.7:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£56,009
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£5,142
Per pupil
£976k
Total funding
£29k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
4.2%
Overall absence
6.3%
Persistent absence
160
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Secondary Schools Nearby
Secondary schools pupils are likely to move to
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy
Questions parents ask about St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy
What are SATs results like at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy?
Of the pupils at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 90% reached the expected standard in reading and 90% did so in maths.
What is St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy's most recent Ofsted inspection, in May 2025, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in October 2014, it was rated Outstanding.
What is the catchment area for St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy?
No fixed boundary. When St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is oversubscribed, Derbyshire allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy?
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy was not full in 2025: it ran at 83% of its 210 places.
How big are the classes at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy?
Classes at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy average 26 pupils (2025/26). 1 class has more than 30 pupils - infant classes are capped at 30 by law, with limited exceptions.
How many pupils go to St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy?
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy has around 167 pupils on roll. 12% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy?
4.2% of sessions were missed at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy in 2024/25. 6.3% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy?
Apply through Derbyshire's coordinated admissions process, naming St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy on your application. Applications for Reception places starting in September 2027 close on Friday 15 January 2027, and offers are made on Friday 16 April 2027.
Does St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy have a breakfast club or after-school club?
Ofsted's childcare register lists 2 out-of-school clubs within a kilometre of St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy: Long Row Zest (410m away, registered, not yet graded) and Primary KidZ Care & St Johns Primary School and Nursery (710m away, registered, not yet graded). The school may also run its own clubs, which don't have to register with Ofsted.
How many road collisions happen near St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 11 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 2 serious and 9 slight. 1 child aged 0 to 15 was hurt: 1 on foot. 2 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Derbyshire is 6 (the median across 454 schools, same distance and years).
Where is St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy?
St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is at Matlock Road, Belper, Derbyshire, DE56 2JD.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)