St Nicholas' Primary and Nursery School

About St Nicholas' Primary and Nursery School

St Nicholas' Primary and Nursery School in Oxford outperforms the local authority average for Key Stage 2, with 67% of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared to the Oxfordshire average of 61%. That six-percentage-point gap places the school comfortably above the typical primary in the area, though it is not among the very top performers in the county — it ranks 79th out of 242 similar schools in Oxfordshire. The school's overall ranking score of 67 puts it in the top 50% nationally, sitting at the 39th percentile. What stands out is that this solid academic performance comes from a school that also received outstanding grades from Ofsted for personal development and for behaviour and attitudes in its most recent inspection in 2023. The school has held a Good overall rating across both its recent inspections, with the 2018 inspection also rating it Good overall, though early years provision was graded as Requires Improvement at that time.

Looking more closely at the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, the school's strongest subject was writing, where 75% of pupils met the expected standard and 22% reached the higher standard. Reading and maths both saw 73% of pupils at the expected level, with reading achieving a notably higher proportion at the higher standard — 43% compared to 30% in maths. The average scaled scores for reading and maths were both 107, which is above the national average of 100. The proportion of pupils achieving the higher standard across all three subjects was 17%, which is respectable but not exceptional. The school's Progress 8 scores are not available in the data, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points. In the local authority rankings based on the expected standard metric, St Nicholas' sits 11th out of 31 schools in Oxford, placing it in the top 35% of the city's primaries.

The school is oversubscribed, with 110 applications for 44 places in the 2025/26 intake, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.5. All 40 first-preference applicants received offers, which suggests that living close to the school or meeting its admissions criteria is important for securing a place. St Nicholas' has a nursery provision for children aged three and above, and the school caters for pupils up to age 11. Facilities include an art studio, library, gymnasium, dining hall, outdoor playground and a chapel. The school offers a broad range of sports including gymnastics, football, cricket, swimming and cross country, plus clubs such as coding, science club, gardening, drama, eco club and choir. For families with children who have additional needs, the school provides a resourced provision and supports a wide range of needs including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language communication needs, visual impairment, physical disability and social, emotional and mental health difficulties. With 10.9% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively mixed catchment.

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