Park Vale Academy

About Park Vale Academy

Park Vale Academy has been rated Good in its most recent Ofsted inspection, a notable improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2021. The school now holds Good marks across all five inspection categories, including behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The most telling exam metric is the school’s Progress 8 score of -0.06, which places it in the ‘Average’ band nationally. That figure is significantly better than the Nottingham local authority average of -0.25, meaning pupils at Park Vale make stronger progress than their peers in other local schools. In fact, the school ranks 6th out of 14 secondary schools in Nottingham on this measure, putting it in the top half of the local authority. With an Attainment 8 score of 44, students leave with solid GCSE results, and 58.3% achieve a grade 4 or above in both English and maths.

The school’s EBacc entry rate is 54.8%, with 31.5% of pupils achieving the EBacc at grade 4 or above. This suggests a decent push towards the full suite of academic subjects, though the maths Progress 8 score of -0.22 is the weakest of the core subjects, while English is essentially flat at -0.01. The EBacc Progress 8 score of 0.08 is the strongest, indicating that pupils taking those subjects do particularly well. Nationally, Park Vale sits in the 53rd percentile for Progress 8, placing it around the middle of all schools in England. The school has no sixth form, so all students leave at 16. With 43% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively disadvantaged intake, making its above-average local progress all the more noteworthy.

Park Vale is oversubscribed: for 2025/26, it received 327 applications for 178 places, with 144 first-preference offers made from 162 first-preference applications. That works out at 1.84 applications per place, so it’s a popular choice locally. Facilities include a gymnasium, art studios, tennis courts, an astro turf pitch, and a library, with a wide range of sports on offer from rowing to martial arts. The school also runs clubs including Chess, DofE, Coding, and Model UN. SEND provision is broad, covering dyslexia, speech and language needs, hearing impairment, and social, emotional and mental health support. This is a school that has turned itself around in recent years and now offers solid, above-average academic progress for its pupils, particularly those taking the EBacc, in a well-equipped and inclusive setting.

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