St Swithun's Church of England Primary Academy

School overview

St Swithun's Church of England Primary Academy is a primary school serving Retford, Nottinghamshire, classified by the DfE as an academy converter with a Church of England religious character. It has 90 pupils aged 3 to 11 on roll. Ofsted rated the school 'Requires improvement' in January 2026. 17% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, well below the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has fallen by 19.0 percentage points compared with the previous year, though small year groups can make these figures swing sharply from year to year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 104 in reading and 100 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 8% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 55% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. If you are considering St Swithun's Church of England Primary Academy, it may be worth asking how leaders have responded to Ofsted's findings and what has changed since the inspection. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links further down the page.