English Martyrs' Catholic Voluntary Academy

About English Martyrs' Catholic Voluntary Academy

English Martyrs' Catholic Voluntary Academy is a state primary school in the Derbyshire borough of Erewash, serving 246 pupils aged 4 to 11. Within the local authority’s primary school rankings, it sits at 118th out of 353 schools, placing it in the bottom half of the table. The top-performing peers in the area — Redhill Primary School, Wessington Primary School and Longford CofE Primary School — all achieved perfect ranking scores, setting a high bar locally. The school’s own ranking score of 61 puts it in the bottom 50% nationally, and within Erewash it ranks 15th out of 25 primary schools. This context matters for parents weighing up options: English Martyrs is not among the highest-achieving primaries in Derbyshire, but its position reflects a school that serves a mixed community, with 17.1% of pupils eligible for free school meals — slightly above the national average.

Academically, the school’s most recent KS2 results from 2023/24 show a mixed picture. In reading, 85% of pupils met the expected standard and 29% reached the higher standard, with an average score of 107. Writing saw 83% at expected and 22% at higher. Maths was weaker: 66% at expected, 20% at higher, and an average score of 103. Combined, 61% of pupils achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and maths — just above the Derbyshire local authority average of 59%. However, the school’s Ofsted rating from November 2023 is Requires Improvement overall, a significant drop from its previous Outstanding rating in 2008. The inspection found that while early years provision, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management are all Good, the quality of education itself requires improvement. This suggests the school has solid foundations but needs to sharpen its curriculum delivery.

The school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, it received 27 applications for 16 places, with all 16 first-preference applicants offered a spot. Facilities include an outdoor playground, dining hall, art studios, music rooms, ICT suite and a chapel. Sports on offer include swimming, cricket, rounders and netball, while clubs range from drama and choir to gardening, film club and eco club. SEND provision is broad, covering specific learning difficulties, moderate to severe learning difficulties, social and emotional needs, speech and language needs, hearing and multi-sensory impairments, physical disabilities, autistic spectrum disorder and other difficulties. This makes it a potentially strong fit for families who value a faith-based setting with a wide range of support, but who are comfortable with a school that is still working to improve its academic outcomes after a recent Ofsted downgrade.

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