Victoria Primary School

Victoria Primary School is a caring and diverse community school that inspectors found to be performing well overall. The quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and early years provision are all good, while personal development is outstanding. Pupils are happy, safe and well supported, and the school is ambitious for all pupils, including many who arrive at different points in the year and some who are new to English. The school’s personal development offer, enrichment experiences and pupil leadership opportunities are notable strengths. The curriculum is well sequenced from early years, reading and phonics are taught effectively, and mathematics is strong. Staff have good subject knowledge and support pupils to revisit and practise knowledge. However, pupils do not consistently have enough opportunities to communicate their understanding in writing across subjects, and assessment is not always used well enough to provide appropriate next steps, including for some pupils with SEND. Some pupils are also absent too frequently and miss too much of the school’s good education. Leaders have made many improvements since the previous inspection, particularly in personal development, and governance is effective. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspectors took the pandemic’s impact into account.

Strengths

• Warm, inclusive community with diversity celebrated across 33 languages
• Exemplary personal development and well-being support for pupils
• Exceptional range of enrichment experiences and pupil leadership opportunities
• Well-sequenced curriculum with clearly specified knowledge and frequent revision
• Strong vocabulary and oracy promotion across the curriculum
• Effective phonics and reading teaching with accurate support for pupils who need to catch up
• Mathematics taught well with firm foundations for number in early years
• Pupils are sociable, courteous and focused on learning
• Effective attendance systems with improvements in attendance and timekeeping
• Leaders have improved subject leader expertise and are mindful of staff workload
• Effective governance with governors and trustees understanding their duties
• Strong parental engagement and community celebration of religious and cultural events
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to communicate their written understanding across a range of subjects
• Teachers do not always use assessment well enough to address gaps and provide suitable next steps
• Next steps for some pupils with SEND are not always clearly identified
• Some pupils are absent too frequently and miss too much of the school’s education

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 Victoria Primary School attended 93.6% 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, 4.3% of pupils at Victoria 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 Victoria Primary School had 19.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.9% 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, 12.5% of pupils at Victoria Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% 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 Victoria Primary School received £8,094 and spent £7,823 for each of its 285 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £521,000 (£1,830 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of Nova Education Trust, income was £7,436 and spending £7,228 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 Nottingham · Nottingham local authority: places and applications

Victoria Primary School is part of Nova Education Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Nottingham University Academy of Science and Technology Nottingham
• Nottingham Free School Nottingham
• Westdale Junior School Nottingham
• Nottingham University Samworth Academy Nottingham
• Firbeck Academy Nottingham
• Kirk Hallam Community Academy Ilkeston
• Robert Miles Infant School Nottingham
• Toot Hill School Nottingham
• Forest Town Primary School Mansfield
• The Garibaldi School Mansfield

What is Victoria Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Victoria Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Victoria Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Victoria Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Victoria Primary School have?

Victoria Primary School has 289 pupils on roll.

What age range does Victoria Primary School cover?

Victoria Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Victoria Primary School?

Victoria Primary School is at Ainsworth Drive, The Meadows, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG2 1FX.