The Wells Academy

Academy sponsor led·Secondary school Nottingham·NG3 5LR
Composite score
53.9
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#2,046
National rank
#167
In East Midlands
#9
In Nottingham
Top 64%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
43.1
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
35%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
59%
% EBacc grade 5+
6%
EBacc average points score
3.60

Ofsted judgements

New framework · Last inspection: 13/01/2026 · Read full report ↗

Achievement
Expected standard
Leadership and governance
Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching
Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour
Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing
Expected standard
Inclusion
Expected standard
Safeguarding standards
Met

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
44 first choices, 71 places
First choices per place
0.62
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
102
any preference, for 71 places
Applications from another council area
1%
First preferences per place, last five years▲ 0.03
00.511.5
1 per place
0.4920220.6520230.6320240.5920250.622026

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

Every child who put The Wells 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
704
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
50.9%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
38.4%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
11.4%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
1.7%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
11.3%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
34.4%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
18.0
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,441
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
86%
126 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
85%
Apprenticeship
0%
Employment
1%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

The Wells Academy at a glance

Located in Nottingham, The Wells Academy is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy. The school educates roughly 704 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Requires improvement' when it was last inspected in January 2026. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 43.1, broadly in line with the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 8.9 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.

35% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 59% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. The Wells Academy was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 44 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 86% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 11.3%. There are about 18.0 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 51% 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 The Wells 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 above.

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