Farnborough Spencer Academy

Academy sponsor led·Secondary school Nottingham·NG11 8JW
Composite score
48.6
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#2,659
National rank
#227
In East Midlands
#14
In Nottingham
Top 84%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
38.9
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
41%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
55%
% EBacc grade 5+
12%
EBacc average points score
3.50

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
149 first choices, 177 places
First choices per place
0.84
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
198
any preference, for 177 places
Applications from another council area
2%
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.02
00.511.5
1 per place
0.6820220.7820230.9020240.8220250.842026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put Farnborough Spencer Academy first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–16
Pupils on roll
997
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
43.6%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
12.2%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
21.8%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
0.4%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
10.5%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
30.7%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
18.2
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,865
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
83%
146 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
77%
Apprenticeship
4%
Employment
2%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

About Farnborough Spencer Academy

Farnborough Spencer Academy is a secondary school in Nottingham, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy. Around 997 pupils aged 11 to 16 attend the school. The school holds a 'Good' judgement from Ofsted. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 38.9, below the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 5.1 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

41% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, in line with the national average of about 45%. 55% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Farnborough Spencer Academy was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 149 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 83% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 10.5%. There are about 18.2 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 44% 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. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. 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 above.

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