Carlton le Willows Academy

About Carlton le Willows Academy

Carlton le Willows Academy presents a genuinely unusual picture for parents to weigh up. Its most recent Ofsted inspection rated the school Inadequate overall, which is the lowest possible grade and a clear red flag for any family considering it. Yet the academic data tells a very different story. The school’s Progress 8 score for the 2023/24 academic year stands at +0.49, meaning pupils here achieve nearly half a grade more per subject than the national average. That score is well above the Nottinghamshire local authority average of -0.11, and it places Carlton le Willows first out of six schools in the Gedling borough. Nationally, it ranks in the top 16 per cent of all schools, and in the East Midlands region it sits 26th out of 273. So you have a school that has been judged inadequate by inspectors but whose exam results are among the strongest in its area.

Digging into the detail, the Attainment 8 score of 50.8 is solid, and the basics measure — the proportion of pupils achieving a grade 5 or above in both English and maths — comes in at 60.4 per cent, which is a respectable figure. The English Progress 8 score is particularly strong at +0.75, while maths is +0.43 and the EBacc element is +0.30. The EBacc entry rate is low at 18.8 per cent, and only 10.7 per cent of pupils entered for the EBacc achieved a grade 5 or above in it, which suggests the school does not push the full suite of academic subjects as strongly as some. The Progress 8 banding is classed as ‘Above average’, and the confidence interval ranges from 0.33 to 0.65, so the positive result is statistically reliable. The school’s ranking within the wider Nottinghamshire local authority is third out of 46 schools of the same type, behind Rushcliffe Spencer Academy and The West Bridgford School.

The school is large, with 1,803 pupils aged 11 to 18, and is a mixed, non-denominational state secondary in Gedling. Facilities are extensive: a swimming pool, theatre, astro turf, sports hall, gymnasium, music rooms, art studios, ICT suites and a library. There is a wide range of clubs including the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Young Enterprise, debate, chess, gardening, choir and orchestra, and sports on offer include rowing, martial arts, rugby, hockey and tennis. The headteacher is Jaspal Mehat. For families focused purely on academic outcomes, the data is compelling — particularly for English — but the Inadequate Ofsted rating cannot be ignored. It may reflect issues around leadership, behaviour or safeguarding that are not captured in exam scores, so parents should read the full inspection report carefully and, if possible, visit to see how the school actually runs day to day.

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