St Nicolas C.E. Junior School

St Nicolas C.E. Junior School is a happy, inclusive Church of England junior school where pupils are proud of their diverse community and build strong relationships with staff. Inspectors judged the school good in each of the four key areas inspected: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and no overall effectiveness grade was given under the current inspection framework.

Strengths

• High ambition for all pupils with clear learning journeys across subjects
• Highly effective and individualised support for pupils with SEND
• Nurture group helps pupils who need extra support with learning or behaviour
• Strong reading provision, including phonics-based support for pupils who need to catch up
• Pupils remember learning well because teachers routinely recap prior learning
• Secure teacher subject knowledge and good access to learning resources
• Pupils are friendly, attentive and benefit from high behaviour expectations
• Rich personal development offer including music, sport and extracurricular clubs
• Pupils learn about diverse faiths and cultures and show empathy towards others
• High attendance supported by active school work with families
• Governors are well informed and the school engages well with the local authority and diocese
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' secure grammar and punctuation knowledge is not always reflected in their written work
• English teaching does not always make explicit links between reading analysis and pupils' own writing
• Some lesson activities lack a clear learning focus, so pupils do not always learn the intended curriculum

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St Nicolas C.E. Junior School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 3.2% of pupils at St Nicolas C.E. Junior School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St Nicolas C.E. Junior School had 22.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 13.5% of pupils at St Nicolas C.E. Junior School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St Nicolas C.E. Junior School received £7,217 and spent £7,079 for each of its 425 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £152,000 (£357 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). This school files a single return with the other schools in its federation, so the figures are for the whole federation.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Newbury · West Berkshire local authority: places and applications

What is St Nicolas C.E. Junior School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Nicolas C.E. Junior School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was St Nicolas C.E. Junior School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Nicolas C.E. Junior School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does St Nicolas C.E. Junior School have?

St Nicolas C.E. Junior School has 244 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Nicolas C.E. Junior School cover?

St Nicolas C.E. Junior School for pupils aged 7 to 11.

What are St Nicolas C.E. Junior School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Nicolas C.E. Junior School?

St Nicolas C.E. Junior School is at Link Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 7LU.