St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery

About St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery

St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery sits in a challenging position within Stevenage. Its headline Key Stage 2 results for 2023/24 show that just 33% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a local authority average of 64% for primary schools. That gap of 31 percentage points is significant and places the school 18th out of 19 primary schools in Stevenage, in the bottom 50% nationally. The school’s overall Ofsted rating is Requires Improvement, following an inspection in June 2025. However, the picture is not uniformly negative. In that inspection, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision were all rated Good. The school has held a Requires Improvement rating across its two most recent inspections, but the most recent graded inspection saw leadership and management improve from a 3 to a 2, suggesting some progress is being made.

Looking more closely at the academic data, the picture is mixed. In reading, 48% of pupils met the expected standard and the average score was 102, while in maths 52% met the expected standard with an average score of 100. Writing saw 52% reach the expected standard. The proportion of pupils achieving the higher standard in reading, writing and maths combined was just 7%, well below what you’d hope for. Progress scores for reading, writing and maths were not published, so it’s hard to say how much value the school adds. Parent views, collected between September 2024 and September 2025, are divided. While 77% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy, and 77% felt their child is safe, only 50% would recommend the school to another parent. Concerns about behaviour and how concerns are handled were notable weak spots in the survey.

The school is a Church of England primary with a nursery, catering for children aged 3 to 11. It has 212 pupils on roll against a capacity of 240, and 19% are eligible for free school meals. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: 45 applications for 19 places, with 16 first-preference offers made. Facilities include a library, ICT suite, music rooms, playing fields, a gymnasium and a chapel. Sports on offer include netball, cricket, athletics and football, and there are clubs for drama, chess and choir. The school lists SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties, speech and language needs, social and emotional mental health, and physical disability. Of the parents who responded to the Parent View survey, 33% said their child has SEND, and 64% of those agreed or strongly agreed that the school gives SEND children the support they need. This is a school that may suit families who value its church foundation and nursery provision, but the academic results and mixed parent feedback mean it’s worth a careful visit.

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