Holly Primary School

About Holly Primary School

Holly Primary School in Mansfield has been rated Good by Ofsted, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating. The school's most recent graded inspection in 2014 gave it Good marks for overall effectiveness, leadership and management, and the school has maintained that standard since, as confirmed by an ungraded inspection in 2023. For a clearer picture of academic performance, the most telling metric is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined: 67 per cent. That is above the Nottinghamshire local authority average of 61 per cent for primary schools, placing Holly in the top half of schools nationally and sixth out of 27 primary schools within Mansfield itself.

Digging into the 2023/24 KS2 results, the school's strongest subject is maths, where 89 per cent of pupils met the expected standard and the average score was 105. Reading also performed well, with 84 per cent at expected and an average score of 105, while writing lagged slightly at 71 per cent. At the higher standard, reading led again at 27 per cent, followed by maths at 20 per cent, writing at 11 per cent, and just 7 per cent achieving higher in all three combined. The school's ranking score of 67 puts it in the top 50 per cent nationally and top 40 per cent regionally within the East Midlands. Compared with its previous inspection, the rating has clearly improved from Requires Improvement to Good, and the school has held that Good rating across both its recent inspections.

The school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26, it received 144 applications for 40 places, with 43 first-preference applications and 37 offers made to first-preference families. That gives an oversubscription ratio of 3.6 applicants per place. Holly has a nursery provision for children from age three and offers a broad range of facilities including a sensory room, forest school, library, art studios, music rooms, sports hall and playing fields. Clubs include drama, choir and science club, and sports on offer are tennis, athletics, netball and football. The school provides for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment and physical disability. With 308 pupils on roll against a capacity of 280, the school is running above its official capacity, and 10.1 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals. This is a school that suits families looking for a Good-rated primary with strong maths and reading outcomes and a clear upward trajectory from its previous inspection.

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