Saint Winefride's Catholic Voluntary Academy, Shepshed, Leicestershire

About Saint Winefride's Catholic Voluntary Academy, Shepshed, Leicestershire

Every single parent who responded to Ofsted's Parent View survey between September 2024 and September 2025 said they would recommend Saint Winefride's Catholic Voluntary Academy. That's a 100% recommend rate from the 17 families who took part, and the detail behind it is striking. 82% of parents strongly agreed that their child is happy at the school, and 88% strongly agreed that their child feels safe. Behaviour is another strong point — 82% strongly agreed the school ensures pupils are well behaved, and no parent disagreed with any of those three statements. The school is also heavily oversubscribed: for its 19 places in the 2025/26 academic year, it received 48 applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.53. All 19 first-preference applicants were offered a place, which suggests that for families who put it top of their list, demand is high but not impossible to meet.

Academically, Saint Winefride's performs above the local average. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 67% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a Leicestershire local authority average of 62%. The school's score of 67 places it 19th out of 45 primary schools in the Charnwood local authority ranking, putting it in the top half locally. In reading, 89% of pupils met the expected standard and 30% achieved the higher standard; in maths, 78% met the expected standard with an average scaled score of 106. Writing saw 74% at expected and 19% at the higher level. Ofsted last inspected the school in April 2025 and confirmed that standards are being maintained, with an overall Good rating. The previous graded inspection in 2016 had also rated the school Good, a notable improvement from its Requires Improvement rating in 2014.

The school is a Roman Catholic voluntary academy for children aged 3 to 11, with 154 pupils on roll against a capacity of 210, so there is some room for growth. Facilities include a chapel, forest school, sensory room, ICT suite, gymnasium and art studios, and the school offers clubs such as book club, drama and eco club. Sports include football, cricket, cross country and rounders. For children with additional needs, the school lists provisions for specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, visual impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary school is Newcroft Primary Academy, 0.9 km away, which may be worth a look for families weighing up options. Saint Winefride's suits families who value a strong Catholic ethos, high parental satisfaction, and a school that has clearly turned around its performance since its Requires Improvement days.

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