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Best secondary schools in Nottingham

17 of 21 secondary schools ranked by Progress 8 · all Nottingham schools · primary schools

Ranked on Progress 8, 2023/24 — the most recent year each school has published. Official data, not our opinion — but the ranking is only as good as the measure, and a single number never describes a school. We hold real catchment boundaries for 6 of them.

# School Progress 8 Ofsted Places Catchment
1 Fernwood School Nottingham 0.6 Outstanding oversubscribed 1.45 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
2 Nottingham Free School Nottingham 0.29 Good oversubscribed 1.54 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
3 Nottingham Girls' Academy Nottingham hidden gem 0.22 Outstanding improving about even 0.88 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
4 The Trinity Catholic School A Voluntary Academy Nottingham 0.1 Good about even 1.12 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
5 Bluecoat Wollaton Academy Nottingham 0.03 Outstanding about even 1.11 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
6 Bluecoat Aspley Academy Nottingham 0.02 Good oversubscribed 1.47 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
7 Park Vale Academy Nottingham hidden gem -0.06 Good improving about even 0.9 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
8 Djanogly City Academy Nottingham -0.13 Not judged improving undersubscribed 0.63 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
9 Nottingham University Academy of Science and Technology Nottingham -0.16 Good oversubscribed 1.62 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
10 The Nottingham Emmanuel School West Bridgford -0.32 Not judged undersubscribed 0.82 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
11 Ellis Guilford School Nottingham hidden gem -0.43 Good improving undersubscribed 0.59 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
12 Nottingham University Samworth Academy Nottingham hidden gem -0.61 Good undersubscribed 0.64 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
13 Farnborough Spencer Academy Nottingham hidden gem -0.64 Good undersubscribed 0.84 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
14 Bluecoat Beechdale Academy Nottingham hidden gem -0.67 Good undersubscribed 0.72 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate
15 The Bulwell Academy Nottingham -0.72 Requires improvement undersubscribed 0.81 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
16 The Oakwood Academy Nottingham hidden gem -0.75 Good improving about even 0.9 first prefs per place, 2026/27 mapped
17 The Wells Academy Nottingham -0.95 Requires improvement undersubscribed 0.62 first prefs per place, 2026/27 approximate

Also in Nottingham

4 further secondary schools with no published Progress 8 for the latest year — usually too small a cohort to report, newly opened, or a special school. Listed because leaving them out would make this a misleading picture of Nottingham, not a fairer one.

Applying in Nottingham

Knowing which school is best is only half of it — these are the deadlines that decide whether you can apply at all.

Rankings compare published results. They do not tell you which school your child will get into — that depends on where you live, sibling and faith priority, and how many people apply this year. Ask below, or check the Nottingham admission criteria.

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