School Chooser

Inkersall Spencer Academy

Primary · ages 3-11MixedAcademy378 pupilsNurseryChesterfieldDerbyshire
School Chooser Score
31
Below
similar schools
Likely range 18 to 50, so it could be “in line”
Out of 100. Better than 51% of the 50 schools most like it. Much the same over the last five years.
OfstedAs expected teachingOfsted report card, June 2026
Reached the expected level at 1166%England 63%
Attendance95.2%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families42%Far more than most schools
Places42 spare378 pupils, 420 places
Pupils per teacher18.9School workforce census

Inkersall Spencer Academy is a sponsored academy in Chesterfield for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 378 pupils and room for 420. About 42 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 31 out of 100. That puts it below schools like it, ahead of 51% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted visited in June 2026 and gave it a report card, which is below.

Inkersall Green Road, Inkersall, Chesterfield, S43 3SE01246 472370inkersallspencer.org.ukMrs Sarah Allison headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted visited on 9 June 2026. Instead of one overall word, it now gives a grade for each part of school life. Read the full report on Ofsted's website.

TeachingOfsted calls this “curriculum and teaching”
As expected
Achievement
As expected
Behaviour and attendanceOfsted calls this “attendance and behaviour”
As expected
Support for every childOfsted calls this “inclusion”
As expected
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development and wellbeing”
As expected
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and governance”
As expected
Early years
As expected
SafeguardingAre pupils kept safe?
Pupils are kept safe
Met
Ofsted's scale:ExceptionalStrong standardExpected standardNeeds attentionUrgent improvement

Ofsted says these new grades can't be lined up against the old one-word grades.

Earlier inspections (1)
DateTypeOutcome
15 February 2022Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 1Good

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

56 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1166%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level11%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score105.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score104.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 46%46%20172018: 76%76%20182019: 50%50%20192023: 65%65%20232024: 49%49%20242025: 66%66%2025
Since 2017: +20%Steady overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017DerbyshireEngland
Pupils tested564363625550
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths66%49%65%50%76%46%60%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths11%0%3%3%4%8%8%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score105.0100.0106.0100.0106.0101.0105.2105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score104.0103.0102.0103.0106.0103.0104.2104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score104.0101.0102.0102.0106.0103.0104.6105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard77%60%81%56%87%50%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard73%70%70%74%85%78%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)77%58%75%81%78%74%
Reading progressReading progress score+0.9-3.9+1.9-1.3
Maths progressMaths progress score-2.0-2.1+3.3+0.9
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged58%30%59%38%65%29%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged73%70%69%56%86%55%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 2 of the 3 gaps are smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
58%73%
Gap 15 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
83%55%
Gap 28 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
8%11%
Gap 3 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Plenty of spare places337 pupils for 420 places, 2024/25
80% full

83 places were empty (20% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Derbyshire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll378Census January 2026
Places42090% full
Pupils from low-income families41%42% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English10%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support25%93 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan6%23 pupils with a plan
Average class size24.410 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)43%£230,950 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls192 / 186
White British pupils89%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 25.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 24.0 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (33), language and communications needs (31), Moderate learning difficulty (28), Autistic spectrum disorder (12), Physical disability (4), Vision impairment (3).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll378377361368366360
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals41%40%39%36%36%31%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language10%7%4%2%1%0%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support26%17%9%9%12%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans4%3%1%2%1%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.2%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school9.7%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils3.72024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.8%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence4.9%4.7%4.5%5.5%2.5%4.0%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.1%3.4%3.4%4.5%2.3%3.1%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.8%1.3%1.1%1.1%0.3%0.9%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence9.7%9.6%11.0%13.4%4.9%7.3%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate3.72.81.10.62.2
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions01000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers19.8full-time equivalent, 22 people
Pupils per teacher18.9Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants12.4full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£47,428
Teachers who left in the year15%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher10.22024/25

Money

From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£6,480England £7,128. Total £2.4m
Income per pupil£6,756England £7,587. Total £2.5m
Spent on teachers per pupil£2,894England £3,405
Money in reserve-13%In the red: -£337k, -£895 per pupil. England 9%
Money in against money out+£104kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£6,480spent per pupil

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m22912 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate81 per 1,000 people12% lower than the England average
Typical house price£195,000Chesterfield
Nearest bus stop130 mSchool, 22 stops within 500 m

Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.

Nearby schools

The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
St Joseph's Catholic and CofE (VA) Primary SchoolRoman Catholic/Church of England840 m181Good 202344Compare
Hollingwood Primary SchoolAcademy0.7 miles313Not inspected70Compare
Staveley Junior SchoolCouncil0.7 miles125Good 202323Compare
Speedwell Infant SchoolCouncil0.9 miles103No overall grade 202416Compare
Henry Bradley Infant SchoolCouncil1.0 miles185Good 202424Compare
Brimington Manor Infant and Nursery SchoolAcademy1.1 miles59Good 202331Compare
Duckmanton Primary SchoolAcademy1.2 miles190Good 2022Compare
Poolsbrook Primary AcademyAcademy1.2 miles69Good 20239Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Inkersall Spencer Academy with the 47 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats51%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the upper half of its group. Its score of 31 is about the same as the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 2 · middle 29 · highest 91100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 47 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Inkersall Spencer Academy, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Ripley St John's Church of England Primary School and NurseryChurch of England14.2 miles359Good 202457Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 31 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 31% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 18 to 50. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%below
-0.09
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 56 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%below
-0.12
Ofsted report card, 0.3 years old
Progress pupils make20%below
-0.09
DfE progress measure; 56 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%in line
+0.02
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%in line
+0.03
2024/25; 309 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%in line
+0.02
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 56 pupils
What parents say0%no data

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is Inkersall Spencer Academy a good school?

The figures are weak. Inkersall Spencer Academy scores 31 out of 100. That is below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 51% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 18 to 50, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

What is Inkersall Spencer Academy's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted no longer gives schools one overall grade. When it visited on 9 June 2026 it rated teaching as as expected, achievement as as expected, behaviour and attendance as as expected, leadership as as expected.

How good are Inkersall Spencer Academy's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 66% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 11% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Inkersall Spencer Academy have?

378 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 420 places, so it is 90% full.

Is Inkersall Spencer Academy oversubscribed?

Probably not. 83 places were empty in 2024/25 (20% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Inkersall Spencer Academy?

Pupils were in school 95.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 10% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Inkersall Spencer Academy?

The average class had 24.4 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Inkersall Green Road, Inkersall, Chesterfield, S43 3SE
Telephone
01246 472370
Website
inkersallspencer.org.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Sarah Allison
Type of school
Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
Phase
Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Multi-academy trust
The Spencer Academies Trust (27 schools)
Local authority
Derbyshire
Ward
Staveley South
Constituency
Chesterfield
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 September 2015 (new provision)
URN
142043 · LAESTAB 8302015 · UKPRN 10049641
Formerly
Inkersall Primary School

Where these figures come from