Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy

Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy is a welcoming, inclusive school where pupils feel safe and behave well. Inspectors found inclusion to be a central strength: leaders identify needs quickly, target pupil premium carefully and support disadvantaged and SEND pupils effectively, and parents are highly positive. Personal development is also a notable strength, with a community-focused offer, strong pastoral support, pupil leadership and opportunities to learn about British values and citizenship. Safeguarding standards are met. The school is generally performing in line with expectations overall. Pupils achieve broadly in line with national end-of-key-stage-2 expectations from low starting points, and disadvantaged pupils often perform above national averages, though writing gaps remain. Attendance has improved and is close to national averages, but persistent absence remains above national and some disadvantaged pupils are still persistently absent. Behaviour is positive and classrooms are calm, with well-established routines. Leaders have a secure understanding of the school's context, and governance is sound. The main areas for improvement are consistent early years interactions, stronger subject knowledge in a few subjects—especially multiplication and music—and continued work on persistent absence. The school is part of the Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Multi-Academy Trust and has had a significant leadership change since its last inspection, now led by two co-headteachers.

Strengths

• Inclusive culture ensures all pupils, including disadvantaged and SEND pupils, are well supported.
• Leaders identify learning and development needs swiftly and provide focused, regularly reviewed support.
• Personal development is tailored to the community and builds spirituality, British values and citizenship.
• Targeted pastoral support helps pupils manage emotions and resolve conflict.
• Pupil premium funding is carefully targeted and monitored, benefiting achievement and attendance.
• Pupils have a wide range of leadership roles that build confidence and resilience.
• Pupils behave well, feel safe and show mutual respect; classroom routines minimise disruption.
• Attendance work has brought absence rates close to national averages.
• The curriculum is ambitious, language-rich and well sequenced, with a strong focus on early reading and phonics.
• Leaders, governors and trustees have a secure understanding of their roles and a strong inclusive ethos.
• Safeguarding standards are met and there is an open culture of safeguarding.

Areas for Improvement

• Some teachers lack subject knowledge in a few subjects, limiting pupils' grasp of concepts such as multiplication and music.
• Number fluency develops more slowly, affecting outcomes in the Year 4 multiplication check.
• Early years adults occasionally miss high-quality interactions, limiting opportunities to extend children's language and thinking.
• Persistent absence remains above national averages, and some disadvantaged pupils remain persistently absent.
• Disadvantaged pupils' writing achievement remains below that of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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 Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy attended 93.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 19.4% 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, 0.3% of pupils at Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy 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 Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy had 24.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.0% 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, 22.3% of pupils at Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.2% 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 2024–25 Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy received £7,329 and spent £7,321 for each of its 329 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £4,000 (£11 per pupil).

Across all 23 schools of St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,145 and spending £7,245 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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All schools in Leicester · Leicester local authority: places and applications

Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy is part of St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 23 schools. The nearest others:

• Saint Patrick's Catholic Voluntary Academy Leicester
• St Paul's Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy Leicester
• St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy Leicester
• St Joseph's Catholic Academy Leicester
• English Martyrs' Catholic School, A Voluntary Academy Leicester
• Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy Leicester
• Bishop Ellis Catholic Voluntary Academy Leicester
• Holy Cross Catholic School, a Voluntary Academy Leicester
• Saint John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy, Wigston, Leicestershire Wigston
• Saint Peters Catholic Voluntary Academy

What is Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in February 2026.

When was Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy was last inspected in February 2026.

How many pupils does Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy have?

Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy has 310 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy cover?

Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy?

Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy is at Mere Close, Off Mere Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 3HH.