SchoolFacts.uk

Castle Academy

Primary · Doncaster · DN12 3DW

⇄ Compare with another school
Good

Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system

This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.

Quality of education: GoodBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: OutstandingLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 2 July 2024

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

143 pupils · 68% of 210 capacity

School type
Academy converter
Age range
3–11
Gender
Mixed
Free school meals
41.3% of pupils
English as additional language
11.8% of pupils
SEN support
25.5% of pupils
EHC plan
2.6% of pupils
Nursery
Yes
Website
www.astreacastle.org
URN
144483

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.86 first-choice applications per place

21 places offered · 18 first-choice applications · roughly balanced

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE. A ratio above 1.00 means more families named this school first choice than there were places.

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

23 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
74%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
9%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
106
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
103
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts.

Schools with a similar intake

Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025

This school74%
Median of its 12 closest peers56.5%
Doncaster average64.5%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is ahead of the schools that teach a comparable intake.

The twelve below are matched on intake alone, from every state school in England, so most are not local. They are the evidence behind the comparison above, not a shortlist. For schools you could realistically apply to, see nearby schools.

SchoolOfstedResult
Drake Primary AcademyPlymouth · 248 miles awayNeeds attention55%
J H Godwin Primary SchoolChester · 73 miles awayNeeds attention32%
Breakwater AcademyNewhaven · 194 miles awayGood (2019)81%
Parsons Heath Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolColchester · 142 miles awayGood47%
St Bartholomew's CofE VC Primary SchoolStourport-on-Severn · 91 miles awayGood57%
Plains Farm AcademySunderland · 97 miles awayNo current grade65%
Oakley Cross Primary School and NurseryBishop Auckland · 81 miles awayGood56%
Rishton Methodist Primary SchoolBlackburn · 52 miles awayNo current grade79%
Althorpe and Keadby Primary SchoolScunthorpe · 21 miles awayGood53%
Ford Primary SchoolPlymouth · 248 miles awayGood66%
Maldon Primary SchoolMaldon · 146 miles awayGood46%
Burradon Community Primary SchoolCramlington · 109 miles awayNeeds attention73%

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one: same phase and admissions type, and as near as the data allows on size, free school meals, English as an additional language, SEN and the child poverty of the surrounding area (IDACI 2025). Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable: sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and plain geography all matter and are not in the calculation. Results: DfE performance tables, 2024/2025. How the matching works.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
5.3%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
15.8%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
15.5
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

89% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 11% left the state-funded sector

School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Spending per pupil

This school£8,869
Typical primary school£6,959

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, academy finance return (DfE Schools Financial Benchmarking, latest year). Higher spending is not a measure of quality. It often reflects greater pupil need or a smaller school. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Inspection history since 2015

Ofsted management information. Ungraded and monitoring visits do not award a new grade. How the two inspection systems work.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
4/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
3/10more deprived than most of England

English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), decile of the small area the school stands in: 1 is the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. IDACI counts only children in low-income families, which is the measure closest to the intake a school is likely to draw on.

Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher23.8%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications22.7%18.1%
In managerial or professional work26.5%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways19.2%18.1%
Residents in very good health48.4%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier67.9%62.3%
Social housing3.6%17.1%
Privately rented28.4%20.5%
Detached houses23.5%22.9%
Flats11.1%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms12.4%21.1%
Households with no car or van23.8%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01007536 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,520 adults that the school stands in. These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Children travel in from further away, and for selective, faith and some other schools usually much further. Open Government Licence v3.0.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£150,000244 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£124,000–£188,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (46)£225,000
Semi-detached (103)£160,000
Terraced (89)£124,000
Flat (6)£91,500

Homes around this school are among the cheapest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Every residential sale registered with HM Land Registry within 1 km of the school (straight line) since January 2024, market sales of houses and flats only. A sale is dated by completion and registered weeks later, so the most recent months are incomplete. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
0an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
1an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
8an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
2an urban school averages 6.1

Every collision reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics (STATS19). "Child pedestrians" counts casualties aged under 16 on foot; "school-run times" means weekdays 07:30–09:00 and 15:00–16:30 outside August. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe: counts rise with traffic and with how built-up an area is, which is why the comparison is with other urban schools. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Nearby schools