Nansen Primary School

Nansen Primary School is a large inner-city primary in Birmingham, part of Leigh Trust, serving a community with well-above-average deprivation. It has a specially resourced provision for pupils with autism, opened in September 2025. Inspectors found a calm, welcoming school where pupils are happy, safe and behave very well. Safeguarding is met. The school’s personal development and wellbeing provision is a notable strength, with a rich programme of trips, clubs, arts, music and sport that broadens pupils’ experiences, including for those in the resourced provision. The curriculum, teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance are all secure. Pupils achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics overall, and disadvantaged pupils often perform above national averages. Attendance is improving and is close to the national average, and pupils with SEND generally progress well from their starting points. Leaders are accurate in their self-evaluation and are taking timely action on the right priorities. There are still areas to develop. Persistent absence remains above national levels, and some pupils with SEND still miss too much school. Leaders have improved systems for the graduated approach to SEND but need to embed these further so that all pupils receive the right support at the right time. Not many pupils reach the higher standard by the end of key stage 2. Overall, the school is performing strongly, with a clear inclusive ethos, but must continue its work on attendance and SEND consistency.

Strengths

• Rich personal development programme broadens pupils’ experiences through trips, theatre, galleries, music and sport.
• Pupils behave exceptionally well, with disruption rare and a calm, orderly environment.
• Strong early years provision helps children settle quickly and learn to read through effective phonics.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and well sequenced, with effective teaching in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils with SEND, including those in the resourced provision, generally progress well from their starting points.
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve well, often above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Leaders, governors and trustees are committed, accurate in self-evaluation and prioritise the right improvements.
• Pupils are respectful, courteous and welcoming, creating a culture of kindness and inclusivity.
• Attendance is improving, with effective support and rewards for regular attendance.
• Safeguarding arrangements are met, with an open culture and pupils feeling safe.

Areas for Improvement

• Persistent absence remains above the national average, and some pupils with SEND still miss too much school.
• Some older pupils with SEND have not previously accessed support early enough, leading to missed opportunities to shape targets with professionals.
• Leaders need to further embed the graduated approach for SEND so support is consistently right at the right time.
• Not many pupils reach the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2.

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 Nansen Primary School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.6% 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, 0.8% of pupils at Nansen Primary 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 Nansen Primary School had 20.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.9% 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, 14.8% of pupils at Nansen Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 4 pupils.

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 Nansen Primary School received £7,464 and spent £7,432 for each of its 606 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,123,000 (£1,854 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Leigh Trust, income was £7,576 and spending £7,567 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 Birmingham · Birmingham local authority: places and applications

Nansen Primary School is part of Leigh Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Leigh Primary School Birmingham
• Alston Primary School Birmingham
• Marlborough Primary School Birmingham
• Wyndcliffe Primary School Birmingham
• Summerfield Primary School Birmingham
• Bentley West Primary School Walsall

What is Nansen Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Nansen Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Nansen Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Nansen Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Nansen Primary School have?

Nansen Primary School has 528 pupils on roll.

What age range does Nansen Primary School cover?

Nansen Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Nansen Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 61% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Nansen Primary School?

Nansen Primary School is at Naseby Road, Birmingham, West Midlands, B8 3HG.