St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery

St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery is a caring, welcoming school where pupils feel safe and are well supported. The quality of education requires improvement, while behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision are good. This was a graded inspection, so no overall effectiveness grade was given; the school was previously judged to require improvement. There are clear strengths. Children make a strong start in early years, the early reading curriculum is highly effective, and the wider curriculum is broad and sequenced. Pupils behave well, attendance has improved, personal development is strong, and safeguarding is effective. Leaders are ambitious and governors provide effective support and challenge. The main concern is that teaching is not consistently effective beyond early years. Lesson activities sometimes do not match the intended knowledge, and teaching is not routinely adapted to meet the needs of all pupils, including some with SEND. As a result, too many pupils do not achieve as well as they could and are not academically ready for secondary school when they leave.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and are well cared for
• Differences are celebrated and everyone is made to feel welcome
• Early years provision is calm, purposeful and develops children's language well
• The early reading curriculum is a strength, with precise phonics teaching and effective catch-up support
• The curriculum is broad, planned and sequenced from early years onwards
• Classrooms are typically calm and pupils learn with little disruption
• Attendance systems are strong and attendance has improved
• The personal development programme prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain
• Pupils are highly respectful of different cultures and beliefs
• Pupils have strong sporting, musical, trip and outdoor learning opportunities
• Governors are effective and staff well-being is considered
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement
• Teaching is not consistently effective across the curriculum
• Lesson activities sometimes do not align with the intended knowledge pupils need to learn
• Teaching is not routinely adapted to meet the needs of different pupils beyond early years
• Some pupils struggle to access learning independently while others are not moved on quickly enough
• Too many pupils leave school without being academically ready for secondary school
• Some pupils' knowledge is not as secure as it should be across the 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 Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.3% 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, 4.2% of pupils at St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery had 17.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.0% 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, 17.7% of pupils at St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.1% 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 Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery received £8,510 and spent £8,429 for each of its 183 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £365,000 (£2,000 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Stevenage · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery last inspected by Ofsted?

St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery have?

St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery has 186 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery cover?

St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 31% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery?

St Nicholas CofE (VA) Primary School and Nursery is at Six Hills Way, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG2 0PZ.