Cotgrave Church of England Primary School

Cotgrave Church of England Primary School is a small, nurturing school that has undergone significant change since joining the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham Multi-Academy Trust in 2022. This was its first inspection since becoming an academy, and new leadership has acted quickly, particularly on inclusion. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school is secure in early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Pupils feel happy and safe, behave well, and parents speak highly of the school’s inclusive ethos. The main concerns are inconsistent teaching and variable achievement across the wider curriculum. Pupils’ phonics attainment has been significantly below average for three years, and some pupils do not become fluent readers quickly enough; the new phonics programme is helping but is still in its early stages. In other subjects, pupils’ knowledge often lacks depth and contains misconceptions, and teaching is not consistently adapted to individual needs, including for pupils with SEND. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils also remains too low despite leaders’ sharper focus and personalised support. Leaders recognise these weaknesses and have appropriate plans and training in place, but the impact is not yet fully embedded.

Strengths

• Nurturing, inclusive ethos with warm relationships and strong support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Early years curriculum is carefully designed and well delivered, giving children a successful start.
• Children develop spoken language well and build strong foundations in phonics, reading and spelling.
• Leaders have transformed inclusion processes so barriers to learning are identified quickly and support is put in place.
• The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced, with clear key knowledge set out over time.
• Leadership and governance are effective, with strong trust and local governing body support.
• Staff feel valued and are included in shaping the school’s vision.
• Personal development is broad, including clubs, trips, residential visits and community roles.
• Pupils behave well in a calm, nurturing atmosphere, and bullying is rare.
• Safeguarding standards are met.

Areas for Improvement

• Phonics screening attainment has been significantly below average for three years.
• Some pupils do not become fluent readers quickly enough, which hinders learning across the curriculum.
• Teaching is not consistently effective across the school.
• Teachers do not always focus sharply enough on key knowledge or check understanding well.
• Misconceptions are not identified and addressed often enough.
• Pupils’ knowledge in subjects beyond reading, writing and mathematics lacks depth and includes misconceptions.
• Adaptations for pupils with SEND are not consistently matched to individual needs or prior knowledge.
• The teaching of phonics beyond the early years is still not consistently effective.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ attendance remains too low, and improvement is often short-lived.
• Pupils are not as well prepared as they should be for their next stages of 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 Cotgrave Church of England Primary School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 7.7% 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, 2.8% of pupils at Cotgrave Church of England 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 Cotgrave Church of England Primary School had 21.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 40.0% 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, 13.1% of pupils at Cotgrave Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.7% 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 Cotgrave Church of England Primary School received £7,690 and spent £7,410 for each of its 106 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £185,000 (£1,747 per pupil).

Across all 23 schools of Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham Multi-Academy Trust, income was £7,940 and spending £8,035 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

Cotgrave Church of England Primary School is part of Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 24 schools. The nearest others:

• Burntstump Seely CofE Primary Academy Nottingham
• Hucknall National Church of England Primary School Nottingham
• Linby Cum Papplewick CofE Primary School Nottingham
• St Peter's Crosskeys CofE Academy Newark
• The King's Church of England Primary Academy Newark
• Magnus Church of England Academy Newark
• Mount CofE Primary School Newark
• St Peter's CofE Primary Academy, Mansfield Mansfield
• Selston Church of England Infant and Nursery School Nottingham
• West Grantham Church of England Primary Academy Grantham

What is Cotgrave Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cotgrave Church of England Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Cotgrave Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cotgrave Church of England Primary School was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Cotgrave Church of England Primary School have?

Cotgrave Church of England Primary School has 107 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cotgrave Church of England Primary School cover?

Cotgrave Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Cotgrave Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Cotgrave Church of England Primary School?

Cotgrave Church of England Primary School is at The Cross, Cotgrave, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG12 3HS.