St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy

About St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy

If you're a parent weighing up St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy, the early signals are strong. The school is clearly popular locally: for its 14 Reception places in 2025/26, it received 30 applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.14, meaning more than two families applied for every spot. All 14 first-preference families were offered a place, which suggests that if you live nearby and put it first, you have a decent chance. The school is a state-funded Roman Catholic primary for mixed genders aged 4 to 11, with 183 pupils on roll against a capacity of 230, so there is some headroom. Its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated it Good across every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — a clean sweep that matches its previous Good rating from 2014.

Academically, the picture is more mixed and worth a close look. At Key Stage 2 in 2023/24, 35% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, well below the Derby local authority average of 55%. This places the school 52nd out of 58 primary schools in Derby, putting it in the bottom 50% nationally. However, individual subject scores tell a different story: 68% of pupils met the expected standard in reading (average score 104), and 56% in writing, while maths was lower at 50%. At the higher standard, 21% achieved greater depth in reading, 15% in writing, and 6% in maths. There is no Progress 8 data available for primary schools, so it's hard to say how much value the school adds, but the reading outcomes are notably stronger than maths.

On the practical side, St John Fisher offers a decent range of facilities including a sports hall, outdoor playground, playing fields, a sensory room, a dining hall, and a chapel. Sports provision covers netball, athletics, cross country, and rounders, with clubs including art, book club, and coding. The school has identified SEND provisions for social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder — useful to know if your child has additional needs. With 18.6% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a moderately disadvantaged intake. Given its oversubscription and Good Ofsted, this is a solid, faith-based local option, particularly if reading outcomes and a supportive Catholic ethos matter more to you than headline KS2 combined scores.

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