Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School

Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School is a larger-than-average primary school in Sheffield, part of the Inova Multi-Academy Trust. In its June 2026 inspection, the school was found to be performing well overall. Safeguarding standards are met. Personal development and wellbeing is judged as a strong standard, while achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, and leadership and governance are all at expected standard. Pupils are happy, safe, and proud of their school. They behave well, and staff deal with any bullying promptly. The school provides a rich personal development programme with numerous clubs, trips, and leadership roles. The curriculum is ambitious and well-sequenced, teaching is effective, and early years provision is strong, particularly in developing language and communication. Inclusion is a strength, with effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, who achieve above national averages in reading, writing, and mathematics at the expected standard in recent years. Leadership and governance are effective, with staff feeling well supported. However, there are areas for improvement. Pupils' transcription skills, including handwriting and letter formation, are inconsistent, especially in older year groups, and some pupils do not continue to develop their writing skills over time. Attendance remains below national levels, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, though it is improving due to leaders' focused work. Leaders have identified these priorities and are taking appropriate action.

Strengths

• Strong personal development and wellbeing provision
• Rich enrichment programme with clubs, trips, and leadership roles
• Pupils feel safe, happy, and respected; positive relationships
• Good behaviour; bullying is rare and handled effectively
• Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum
• Effective teaching, particularly in phonics and reading
• Inclusive environment with strong support for SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Strong early years provision focused on language development
• Effective leadership and governance with clear priorities
• Staff feel valued and supported; strong professional development
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve above national averages in reading, writing, and mathematics at expected standard in recent years
• Attendance is improving through leaders' strategies
• Safeguarding standards met

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent expectations for pupils' transcription skills, especially letter formation in older year groups
• Some pupils do not continue to develop their writing skills over time
• Overall attendance remains below national levels, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
• Persistent absence is above the national average
• Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap in writing and combined reading, writing and mathematics remains negative over the latest three-year average

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 Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School attended 93.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.9% 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, 2.6% of pupils at Hillsborough Nursery & 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 Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School had 18.7 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, 15.8% of pupils at Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.7% 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 Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School received £7,688 and spent £7,796 for each of its 334 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £564,000 (£1,690 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Inova Multi-Academy Trust Limited, income was £7,607 and spending £7,667 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 Sheffield · Sheffield local authority: places and applications

Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School is part of Inova Multi-Academy Trust Limited, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Wisewood Nursery & Primary School Sheffield
• Meynell Nursery & Primary School Sheffield
• Forge Valley School & Sixth Form Sheffield
• Shooters Grove Nursery and Primary School Sheffield
• Southey Green Nursery & Primary School Sheffield
• Bradfield Secondary School Sheffield
• Tapton School & Sixth Form Sheffield
• Hallam Nursery & Primary School Sheffield
• Dobcroft Junior School Sheffield

What is Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School have?

Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School has 349 pupils on roll.

What age range does Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School cover?

Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 64% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School?

Hillsborough Nursery & Primary School is at Parkside Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S6 2AA.