The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy, Nottingham
The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy is a primary school for pupils aged 4 to 11 in Nottingham, part of St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust. It has a Catholic religious character. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in November 2019. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in March 2025 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 184th-highest of the 191 schools in Nottingham with published results, and 13,586th of 14,452 across England. It was 93% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- Below England average
- Ofsted
- Good (2019)
- 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 Nottinghamshire (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Data last updated 26 Oct 2026
The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy in detail
Results
In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy reached the expected standard in reading and 53% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 77% and 76% in Nottinghamshire and 77% and 75% across England.
Results fell from 66% in reading and 76% in maths in 2024.
With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.
Getting a place at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy
For September 2026 entry, 20 families put The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy as their first choice and 42 named it as one of their preferences, for 20 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 The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy
Compared with nearby schools
The nearest other state primary schools to The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy are The Florence Nightingale Academy (0.1 miles, Good, 71% reading, 73% maths); Greasley Beauvale Primary and Nursery School (0.5 miles, Good, 58% reading, 67% maths); Lawrence View Primary and Nursery School (0.5 miles, Good, 77% reading, 65% maths); and Springbank Academy (0.6 miles, Good, 82% reading, 79% maths).
Each of them had higher 2025 results than The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy.
The Florence Nightingale AcademyGreasley Beauvale Primary and Nursery SchoolLawrence View Primary and Nursery SchoolSpringbank Academy
The trust
The Priory 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
62 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy (as of September 2025): 81% would recommend the school, 87% say their child is happy there and 63% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that pupils behave well (90%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (63%).
Who goes there
6.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 25.5% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
The largest ethnic groups are White British (73%) and Black (7%).
In 2026, 38 pupils (19.8%) received SEN support and 2 (1%) 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 Langley Mill Rail Station, about 1.6 miles away in a straight line.
11 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Castle Street (adjacent), 170 metres away.
The area around the school
In August 2026, police recorded 190 crimes within a mile of the school, most often shoplifting, violence and sexual offences and anti-social behaviour. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Nottinghamshire (101), as is usual near a town centre.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy issued 5 suspensions, 2.6 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); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from November 2019, 6 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
Latest (ungraded) inspection: Standards have been maintained.
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's March 2025 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
The Priory Catholic Academy creates a warm, welcoming environment where pupils genuinely enjoy learning and feel safe. Teachers are skilled at making lessons engaging and interesting, with particular strength in teaching early reading and supporting children who need extra help. The school offers exceptional opportunities for enrichment through clubs, residential trips, and leadership roles, helping every child develop their talents and interests.
Key Strengths
- Pupils are happy, safe and kind to each other, with clear understanding of school rules and expectations
- Ambitious curriculum with well-structured lessons where staff use strong subject knowledge to teach effectively
- Effective phonics teaching and strong support for pupils learning to read
- Excellent early years provision with children well-prepared for Year 1
- Strong support for pupils with SEND through carefully chosen resources and bespoke interventions
- Extensive range of clubs, trips and enrichment activities that pupils enjoy with great enthusiasm
Areas for Improvement
- In some subjects, the school has not identified precisely what knowledge pupils need to know and remember, making it unclear for teachers what to teach
- Teachers do not always check carefully enough that pupils have understood key information before moving on, leading to gaps in knowledge
- Some pupils struggle to complete activities because they lack secure knowledge of required subject content
Safeguarding
The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with pupils knowing they can talk to trusted adults about worries.
Extracurricular Activities
Clubs, residential trips, collective worship planning, peer mentoring programme
The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy has successfully maintained the good standards from its previous inspection. Pupils are happy, safe, and benefit from an ambitious, well-structured curriculum with strong support for those who need extra help.
At a Glance
6.8%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
62 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 declined from 66% to 57% (2024 to 2025). Maths has declined from 76% to 53% (2024 to 2025). Writing has declined from 66% to 60% (2024 to 2025).
Class Sizes
27.0
Avg class size
24.0
Infant (KS1)
30.0
KS2
6
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 The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy
Before and after school care
Clubs on Ofsted's childcare register at or near The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy.
- Holiday Activities For Kids Lawrence View Primary700m away · Not yet graded
Term dates
The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy is an academy, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Nottinghamshire's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy is in Nottinghamshire; for families living there:
- Nottinghamshire's school travel policy: Under 16 Transport Policy 2026-2027
- How to apply: Apply for under 16 travel assistance
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 20
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 7
- Children hurt
- 5
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 20 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 7 serious and 13 slight.
5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 5 on foot.
8 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 Nottinghamshire is 10 (the median across 370 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 The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy
Will you get a place at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy:
- The straight-line distance from your home to The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Nottinghamshire, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Nottinghamshire 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
93%
Near capacity
195 pupils
210 places
15 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Nottingham
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Nottingham
Across Nottinghamshire council
Places available
10,513
Applications
7,912
Got 1st preference
99.1%
Got preferred school
99.7%
All primary applications across Nottinghamshire council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Every first choice offered
Inspection History(5)
Ungraded inspection: Standards have been maintained.
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
38
SEN Support
2
EHC Plans
20.8%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
192
Total Pupils
94
Boys
98
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
11
Teachers
17.5:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£49,763
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£5,440
Per pupil
£1159k
Total funding
£32k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
4.0%
Overall absence
9.4%
Persistent absence
180
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
The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy
Questions parents ask about The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy
What are SATs results like at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy?
Of the pupils at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 57% reached the expected standard in reading and 53% did so in maths.
What is The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?
The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy's most recent Ofsted inspection, in March 2025, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in November 2019, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy?
No fixed boundary. When The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy is oversubscribed, Nottinghamshire allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy?
The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy was not full in 2025: it ran at 93% of its 210 places.
How big are the classes at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy?
Classes at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy average 27 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 The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy?
The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy has around 192 pupils on roll. 7% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy?
4% of sessions were missed at The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy in 2024/25. 9.4% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy?
Apply through Nottinghamshire's coordinated admissions process, naming The Priory 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 The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy have a breakfast club or after-school club?
Ofsted's childcare register lists an out-of-school club within a kilometre of The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy: Holiday Activities For Kids Lawrence View Primary (700m 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 The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 20 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 7 serious and 13 slight. 5 children aged 0 to 15 were hurt: 5 on foot. 8 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 Nottinghamshire is 10 (the median across 370 schools, same distance and years).
Where is The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy?
The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy is at Raglan Street, Hill Top, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG16 3GT.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)