Arnold Hill Spencer Academy

Arnold Hill Spencer Academy is a larger secondary school with a sixth form, part of The Spencer Academies Trust. It was inspected in June 2025 following a previous Requires Improvement judgement, and there have been leadership changes since then, with the principal taking up post in 2024 and additional trust school improvement support. The inspection found the school to be good in quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management, with outstanding sixth-form provision. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Pupils benefit from high expectations, a broad and ambitious curriculum, and a calm, purposeful atmosphere where they feel safe and typically behave well. The school supports pupils with SEND well, provides effective reading support, and offers a strong personal development and careers programme alongside many enrichment opportunities. Sixth-form students achieve exceptionally well and value the leadership and reward opportunities available to them. Staff report feeling valued and well supported by leaders and the trust. The main areas for improvement are that assessment is not consistently used to identify and address pupils’ gaps in knowledge before learning moves on, and that the attendance of vulnerable pupils, although improving, is not as strong as that of their peers. The school has clear plans to continue improving attendance and to make assessment practice more consistent.

Strengths

• High expectations and a challenging, well-designed curriculum
• Broad and ambitious curriculum offer across key stages
• Strong support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities
• Effective support for weaker readers to develop reading fluency
• Calm and purposeful atmosphere with positive pupil behaviour
• Pupils feel safe and have trusted adults to go to
• Strong personal development programme, including PSHE and careers
• Wide range of enrichment, trips, sports and leadership opportunities
• Outstanding sixth-form provision where students achieve exceptionally well
• Staff feel valued and supported by leaders and the trust
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment is not consistently used to check pupils’ understanding and address gaps before moving on
• Pupils sometimes struggle when learning moves on before essential knowledge is secure
• Attendance of vulnerable pupils is not as strong as that of their peers and needs continued improvement

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 Arnold Hill Spencer Academy attended 90.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.9% 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, 5.6% of pupils at Arnold Hill Spencer Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Arnold Hill Spencer Academy had 18.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.1% 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, 8.8% of pupils at Arnold Hill Spencer Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.2% 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 Arnold Hill Spencer Academy received £7,666 and spent £7,665 for each of its 1,518 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £26,000 (£17 per pupil).

Across all 27 schools of The Spencer Academies Trust, income was £7,619 and spending £7,638 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 · Nottinghamshire local authority: places and applications

Arnold Hill Spencer Academy is part of The Spencer Academies Trust, which runs 27 schools. The nearest others:

• Glenbrook Spencer Academy Nottingham
• Rushcliffe Spencer Academy Nottingham
• Portland Spencer Academy Nottingham
• Rosecliffe Spencer Academy Nottingham
• Farnborough Spencer Academy Nottingham
• Sunnyside Spencer Academy Nottingham
• Fairfield Spencer Academy Nottingham
• George Spencer Academy Nottingham
• Chetwynd Spencer Academy Nottingham
• Bispham Spencer Academy Nottingham

What is Arnold Hill Spencer Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Arnold Hill Spencer Academy is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Arnold Hill Spencer Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Arnold Hill Spencer Academy was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Arnold Hill Spencer Academy have?

Arnold Hill Spencer Academy has 1,552 pupils on roll.

What age range does Arnold Hill Spencer Academy cover?

Arnold Hill Spencer Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Arnold Hill Spencer Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 47.8, and 53% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Arnold Hill Spencer Academy?

Arnold Hill Spencer Academy is at Gedling Road, Arnold, Gedling Road, Nottingham, NG5 6NZ.