The Nottingham Emmanuel School

The Nottingham Emmanuel School is performing well across all inspected areas. Inspectors found a strong sense of community, with pupils feeling known and valued, and a curriculum that has been thoughtfully redesigned by the school and its trust to be ambitious, diverse and well sequenced, including in the sixth form. Pupils achieve well and learn to use subject-specific vocabulary, while inclusive support for pupils with SEND and a clear focus on reading help remove barriers to learning. Behaviour, attendance, personal development and sixth-form provision are all strengths, and safeguarding is effective. The school has responded successfully to historically below-average examination outcomes by improving teaching and using information about pupils’ learning to provide precise support. Classrooms are calm and purposeful, pupils value their education, and staff feel supported. The school, trust and governance work together with a consistent focus on improving pupils’ experiences. There are two main areas for further improvement. Sometimes teachers’ explanations or chosen activities do not focus closely enough on the most important knowledge in the curriculum, and staff do not always check pupils’ understanding closely enough before moving on. As a result, pupils do not always build their knowledge as well as they could or gaps in their knowledge may not be addressed.

Strengths

• Strong sense of community where pupils feel known, valued and proud of the school’s diversity.
• Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum that reflects pupils and their communities and builds well into the sixth form.
• Pupils achieve well and use subject-specific vocabulary, with improved support following historically below-average outcomes.
• Inclusive provision for pupils with SEND, with prompt identification and appropriate lesson adaptations.
• Effective reading support that helps pupils access the wider curriculum.
• Calm and purposeful classrooms with clear systems that help pupils concentrate.
• Strong attendance supported by caring and supportive school approaches.
• Well-designed personal development offer covering healthy lifestyles, relationships, careers and clubs.
• Good sixth-form provision with enthusiastic students, appropriate preparation and inspiring work experience.
• Effective safeguarding arrangements.
• Staff feel supported, workload is generally considered well, and school, trust and governance work together effectively.

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers’ explanations and learning activities are sometimes not focused closely enough on the most important curriculum knowledge.
• Staff do not always check pupils’ understanding closely enough, so gaps may be missed or learning may move on too soon.

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 The Nottingham Emmanuel School attended 92.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 10.2% of pupils at The Nottingham Emmanuel School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 The Nottingham Emmanuel School had 17.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 13.8% of pupils at The Nottingham Emmanuel School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 The Nottingham Emmanuel School received £8,775 and spent £8,926 for each of its 1,134 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £277,000 (£244 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of Archway Learning Trust, income was £8,859 and spending £8,904 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Rushcliffe · Nottingham local authority: places and applications

The Nottingham Emmanuel School is part of Archway Learning Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Bluecoat Bentinck Primary Academy Nottingham
• Bluecoat Wollaton Academy Nottingham
• Bluecoat Trent Academy Nottingham
• Colwick St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy Nottingham
• Bluecoat Aspley Academy Nottingham
• Bluecoat Beechdale Academy Nottingham
• Bluecoat Primary Academy Nottingham
• St John's CofE Primary School Nottingham
• The Long Eaton School Nottingham
• Wood's Foundation CofE Primary School Nottingham

What is The Nottingham Emmanuel School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Nottingham Emmanuel School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was The Nottingham Emmanuel School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Nottingham Emmanuel School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does The Nottingham Emmanuel School have?

The Nottingham Emmanuel School has 1,108 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Nottingham Emmanuel School cover?

The Nottingham Emmanuel School for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are The Nottingham Emmanuel School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.1, and 37% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Nottingham Emmanuel School?

The Nottingham Emmanuel School is at Gresham Park Road, West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, NG2 7YF.