St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy

St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is a harmonious, caring primary school within the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust. This was its first section 5 inspection and its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pupils are happy, feel safe and achieve well in a warm, family-like environment where mutual respect and kindness are evident. The school is ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND, and provision for personal development is a particular strength: pupils are highly prepared for life in modern Britain, value inclusion and take pride in leadership roles that benefit their school and wider community. The school has notable strengths in early years, reading and phonics. Children start learning to read immediately in Reception, staff deliver phonics skilfully, and pupils read widely and discuss texts with confidence. Mathematics teaching develops fluency and problem solving, and pupils with SEND are identified early and supported well. Leadership is considerate of staff workload, staff are proud to work at the school, and governance and trust links are effective. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main areas for improvement are in curriculum implementation and assessment. In a small number of subjects, assessment is not used sharply enough to check what pupils know and remember over time, so some pupils develop gaps in knowledge. Sometimes tasks are not well adapted to pupils' needs, leading a minority to become disengaged or to receive work that is too easy or too challenging. Higher-attaining pupils in mathematics do not always get enough opportunity to think more deeply.

Strengths

• Harmonious and caring school culture with warm relationships and mutual respect
• Pupils are happy, feel safe and show mature attitudes to learning
• Ambitious curriculum helps pupils achieve well across areas of study
• Character development and pupil leadership are clear strengths
• Personal development provision is exceptional and prepares pupils well for modern Britain
• Pupils are proud of their inclusive school and speak respectfully about different faiths and cultures
• Strong reading culture with immediate phonics teaching in Reception
• Staff are highly skilled in delivering the phonics programme
• Pupils access diverse, high-quality texts and discuss reading confidently
• Mathematics develops fluency, reasoning and problem solving
• SEND is identified early and pupils with SEND are well supported to access the ambitious curriculum
• Early years provision has well-established routines and strong support for language and communication
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Leaders are considerate of staff workload and support staff well-being
• Governance knows the school's priorities and trust networking has a positive impact

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of subjects, assessment is not effective enough in checking pupils' long-term knowledge
• Some pupils do not build securely on prior knowledge in those subjects and develop gaps
• Curriculum tasks are sometimes too easy or too hard for pupils
• The curriculum is not always sufficiently adapted to meet some pupils' needs
• A minority of pupils can become disengaged or receive inappropriate challenge
• Higher-attaining pupils in mathematics do not always get the opportunity to think more deeply
• In some subjects, recap activities are not well designed to reinforce prior learning

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 St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy attended 95.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.3% 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, 1.2% of pupils at St Elizabeth's 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 St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy had 19.6 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, 24.6% of pupils at St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.0% 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 St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy received £6,319 and spent £7,500 for each of its 172 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £199,000 (-£1,156 per pupil).

Across all 25 schools of St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,472 and spending £7,889 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 Belper · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is part of St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 25 schools. The nearest others:

• Saint Benedict, A Catholic Voluntary Academy Derby
• St Mary's Catholic Voluntary Academy Derby
• Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy Alfreton
• St Alban's Catholic Voluntary Academy Derby
• Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy Ilkeston
• The Priory Catholic Voluntary Academy Nottingham
• St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy Derby
• St Joseph's Catholic Voluntary Academy Matlock
• St Thomas Catholic Voluntary Academy Ilkeston
• St George's Catholic Voluntary Academy Derby

What is St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy have?

St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy has 167 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy cover?

St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy?

St Elizabeth's Catholic Voluntary Academy is at Matlock Road, Belper, Derbyshire, DE56 2JD.