Local authority · East Midlands
Nottingham has 27 secondary schools in this dataset — 21 state-funded and 6 independent. 3 are selective, admitting on an entrance test; 4 have a religious character; 15 have a sixth form.
The typical school here posts a three-year Progress 8 of -0.29 (below average) — 0.28 of a grade per subject below the national median of -0.01. That is the middle of the 18 schools in this area with a published score.
The spread inside the area is wider than the gap between areas: from -0.66 to +0.49. Which school a child goes to matters more here than which area you move to.
For 2026 entry the typical school here drew 0.88 first preferences per place — less pressure than the national median of 0.95×. 7 of the 19 schools with published figures were named first by more families than they had places for. A high figure means popular, not good, and it is not your chance of a place — that depends on where you live.
Overall absence runs at 9.7% for the typical school here, above the national median of 8.7%. Absence is a plainer signal of whether pupils are turning up and engaged than any grade average.
Ordered on the three-year average Progress 8, which is steadier than any single year. Read the confidence interval beside each score before you read the order: it is the range the school's true figure is likely to sit in, and a wide one means a small year group rather than an unpredictable school.
| School | Progress 8 | 95% interval | Attainment 8 | Pressure | Ofsted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernwood SchoolAcademy converter | +0.49above average | +0.41 to +0.792023–24 | 58.3 | 1.45× | Outstanding |
| 2 | Nottingham Girls' AcademyAcademy sponsor led | +0.25above average | -0.01 to +0.442023–24 | 48.6 | 0.88× | Outstanding |
| 3 | Bluecoat Wollaton AcademyAcademy converter | +0.25above average | -0.19 to +0.252023–24 | 51.3 | 1.11× | Standards maintained (ungraded) |
| 4 | Nottingham Free SchoolFree schools | +0.15average | +0.02 to +0.562023–24 | 52.5 | 1.54× | Good (ungraded) |
| 5 | The Trinity Catholic School A Voluntary AcademyAcademy converter | +0.13average | -0.11 to +0.302023–24 | 54.0 | 1.12× | Standards maintained (ungraded) |
| 6 | Bluecoat Aspley AcademyAcademy converter | +0.08average | -0.18 to +0.222023–24 | 48.0 | 1.47× | Good (ungraded) |
| 7 | Djanogly City AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.06average | -0.35 to +0.102023–24 | 41.0 | 0.63× | — |
| 8 | Nottingham University Academy of Science and TechnologyFree schools | -0.13average | -0.43 to +0.112023–24 | 48.8 | 1.62× | Good |
| 9 | The Nottingham Emmanuel SchoolAcademy converter | -0.23below average | -0.52 to -0.122023–24 | 43.7 | 0.82× | Good (ungraded) |
| 10 | Park Vale AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.34below average | -0.28 to +0.162023–24 | 40.9 | 0.90× | Good |
| 11 | Nottingham University Samworth AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.40below average | -0.84 to -0.372023–24 | 40.1 | 0.64× | Good (ungraded) |
| 12 | Nottingham AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.45below average | -0.34 to +0.012023–24 | 39.9 | 0.78× | Expected standard (achievement) |
| 13 | The Bulwell AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.49below average | -0.93 to -0.522023–24 | 37.8 | 0.81× | Needs attention (achievement) |
| 14 | Ellis Guilford SchoolAcademy sponsor led | -0.49below average | -0.61 to -0.242023–24 | 38.3 | 0.59× | Good |
| 15 | The Oakwood AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.53well below average | -0.98 to -0.512023–24 | 40.6 | 0.90× | Good |
| 16 | Farnborough Spencer AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.57well below average | -0.87 to -0.412023–24 | 37.0 | 0.84× | Good |
| 17 | Bluecoat Beechdale AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.60well below average | -0.88 to -0.452023–24 | 34.6 | 0.72× | Good (ungraded) |
| 18 | The Wells AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.66well below average | -1.21 to -0.692023–24 | 37.6 | 0.62× | Expected standard (achievement) |
2 of the 17 other schools ranked here have a confidence interval that overlaps Fernwood School's. On these figures they cannot be told apart from the school at the top of the table, and the order between them is not a finding. 8 schools here have an interval that includes zero (shaded above) — those cannot be told apart from an average school nationally.
These are not bottom of the table — they are not in it. A school with no published score has not done badly; the measure was not calculated for it, and the reason differs.
| Bilborough College | Sixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8 |
|---|---|
| Bluecoat Trent Academy | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| FUEL | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
| Hollygirt School | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
| Jamia Al-Hudaa Residential College | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
| Nottingham College | Sixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8 |
| Nottingham Girls' High School GDST | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
| Nottingham High School | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
| Take 1 Learning Centre | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
The most sought-after school in Nottingham for 2026 entry was Nottingham University Academy of Science and Technology at 1.62 first preferences per place — 194 families named it first for 120 places.
Pressure is not a chance of admission. A school with two applicants per place can still admit every family living near it, while a less popular school further away turns you down. Distance from the gate is usually what decides it, and no national figure can tell you that for your own address.
See Nottingham on the map →The same schools on a map, with every filter: results, admissions pressure, Ofsted, faith and selection — or sorted by distance from your own postcode.Admissions do not stop at an authority line. If you live near one, your realistic list of schools spans both sides of it.
The results here are for 2023–24 and earlier, so they describe pupils who have already left. Nothing on this page covers sixth-form results, pastoral care, music, sport or drama, or how a school feels to walk around — which is what parents most often say settled it. The ranking is a starting point for a shortlist, not a verdict on a school.
Nor is it a prediction of a place. Admission depends on each school's criteria and, most often, on how far you live from it — and in Nottingham you apply for a state-funded place through the council's coordinated scheme, naming several schools in order of preference.