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St Swithun's Church of England Primary Academy

Primary · Retford · DN22 6LD

Data updated

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Urgent improvement

Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)

The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.

Ofsted placed this school in a statutory category of concern, requires significant improvement, at the inspection of 13 January 2026. It stands until a later inspection lifts it.

Safeguarding: MetCurriculum & teaching: Needs attentionAchievement: Urgent improvementAttendance & behaviour: Needs attentionPersonal development: Needs attentionInclusion: Needs attentionLeadership & governance: Needs attentionEarly years: Needs attentionPost-16: Not applicable

Inspected 13 January 2026 · report published 17 March 2026

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

92 pupils · 44% of 210 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Academy converter
Age range
3–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England
Free school meals
48.8% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
11.1% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
14.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
2.2% of pupils (2024/2025)
Nursery
Yes
Website
http://www.st-swithuns.notts.sch.uk
URN
145447

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 8 families named it first for 8 Reception places, 1.00 first choices per place. We hold 3 Reception admissions rounds for it, 2024 to 2026; none was decided by a published distance. At its report-card inspection on 13 January 2026, under the system Ofsted introduced in November 2025, the Achievement area was judged Urgent improvement. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 6.8% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

1.00 first-choice applications per place

8 places offered · 8 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

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

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

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
17%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
8%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
104
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
100
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

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

This school17%
Median of its 12 closest peers51%
Nottinghamshire average63.2%
England62%

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

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedResult
Cavendish Junior SchoolChesterfield · 21 miles awayNeeds attention43%
Laycock AcademyKeighley · 56 miles awayGood64%
Highfield Community Primary SchoolRowlands Gill · 115 miles awayGood57%
St Bernadette's Catholic Primary SchoolWalsall · 62 miles awayGood52%
Eastlands Junior School (Welbeck Federation of Schools)Mansfield · 11 miles awayRequires improvement38%
St Oswald's Roman Catholic Primary School, AccringtonAccrington · 66 miles awayGood68%
Wilton Primary AcademyRedcar · 87 miles awayGood71%
St Peter's CofE Primary SchoolCleethorpes · 41 miles awayNeeds attention50%
Birchwood CofE Primary SchoolWarrington · 65 miles awayGood59%
Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary SchoolRossendale · 61 miles awayRequires improvement32%
St Mary's Catholic Voluntary AcademyGlossop · 42 miles awayGood33%
St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary AcademyRuncorn · 72 miles awayGood50%

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 78% (Nottinghamshire 75%, England 60%) · Any other Mixed background 5% (Nottinghamshire 2%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Black African 5% (Nottinghamshire 1%, England 1%) · Any other White background 5% (Nottinghamshire 6%, England 7%) · Asian Chinese 3% (Nottinghamshire 2%, England 1%) · Black African 1% (Nottinghamshire 3%, England 5%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (Nottinghamshire 2%, England 2%)

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
6.8%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
25.9%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

13.33 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Nottinghamshire: 1.57 suspensions and 0.01 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
15.9
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

65% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 35% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, primary academies: 0.3% vacant, 0.32% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

33.3% of teachers took sickness absence, 5 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £56,395; 28.6% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2024-25)

This school£9,376
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2024-25)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 77% (77%) · premises 8% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 8% (8%) · supplies and services 7% (9%) · educational supplies 3% (4%) · bought-in professional services 1% (2%) · catering 4% (5%)

Reserves (2024-25)

Revenue reserve £20,000; in-year balance +£97,000

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
2/10among the most deprived fifth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
2/10among the most deprived fifth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher20.4%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications29%18.1%
In managerial or professional work21.7%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways27.8%18.1%
Residents in very good health35.6%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier43.6%62.3%
Social housing30.5%17.1%
Privately rented25.5%20.5%
Detached houses13.7%22.9%
Flats40.4%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms9%21.1%
Households with no car or van38.5%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01028011 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£172,000373 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£124,500–£240,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (94)£300,000
Semi-detached (105)£175,500
Terraced (131)£130,000
Flat (43)£100,000

Homes around this school are cheaper than three quarters of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. 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
2an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
4an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
35an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
13an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools