Archbishop Cranmer Church of England Academy

About Archbishop Cranmer Church of England Academy

Archbishop Cranmer Church of England Academy is a popular choice among local families, and the numbers back that up. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 55 applications for just 29 places, giving it an oversubscription ratio of 1.9. Every one of those 29 places went to a first-preference applicant, which suggests parents who want a spot here tend to make it their top choice. The school is a state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 4 to 11, with a Church of England character, and it operates below its full capacity of 210, currently teaching 197 children. Headteacher Melanie Stevens leads a school where 13.7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, a figure that gives some indication of the catchment’s mix. While the Department for Education no longer publishes the Parent View survey results in this dataset, the combination of strong demand and high first-preference offer rate is a clear signal of local satisfaction.

Academically, Archbishop Cranmer performs well above the local average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 tests, 74% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Nottinghamshire local authority average of 61%. The school also excels at stretching its pupils: 46% achieved the higher standard in all three subjects, with particularly strong results in reading (60% at higher standard) and maths (57% at higher standard). Average scaled scores of 110 in both reading and maths are well above the national benchmark of 100. In the most recent Ofsted inspection, carried out in December 2023, the school was rated Outstanding across every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This is a consistent improvement from its previous inspection in 2009, which also rated overall effectiveness as Outstanding but gave early years a lower grade of 2 (Good).

The school offers a solid range of facilities for a primary of its size, including a library, sports hall, music rooms, a gymnasium, playing fields, a chapel and a Forest School area. Sports provision covers swimming, gymnastics, rounders, cross country, cricket, dance and athletics, while extracurricular clubs include choir, book club and science club. For children with additional needs, the school has specialist provision for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, hearing impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. Archbishop Cranmer is one of 14 Outstanding-rated primary schools in Nottinghamshire, and it ranks 47th out of 286 schools of the same type in the local authority. It sits in the top 25% nationally by its Key Stage 2 expected standard score. This is a school that suits families who value strong academic outcomes within a Church of England framework, and who are prepared to compete for a place in a popular, oversubscribed setting.

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