Rothesay Nursery School
Rothesay Nursery School is a local authority nursery school in Luton for boys and girls aged 2 to 5. It has 127 pupils. About 11 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2022.
59 Rothesay Road, Luton, LU1 1RB01582 726966rothesaynursery.co.ukMrs Nicola Elsmore-Cary headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 20 July 2022 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
This inspection is more than 4 years old. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of one grade.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
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 Luton council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. Resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) with 24 pupils, for autism, hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, multi-sensory impairment, other needs, physical disability, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, specific learning difficulties, visual impairment.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Luton with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (31), Physical disability (2), Hearing impairment (1), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 127 | 116 | 114 | 129 | 89 | 101 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 32% | 39% | 27% | 34% | 37% | 43% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 66% | 71% | 79% | 69% | 71% | 72% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 28% | 27% | 32% | 30% | 26% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 0% | 2% | 2% | 8% | 0% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
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
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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapel Street Nursery School | Local authority nursery school | 440 m | 130 | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Hillborough Infant and Nursery School | Council | 500 m | 296 | Good 2023 | 58 | Compare |
| Hillborough Junior School | Council | 500 m | 358 | Outstanding 2023 | 98 | Compare |
| Dallow Primary School | Academy | 590 m | 605 | Good 2023 | 32 | Compare |
| Farley Junior Academy | Academy | 700 m | 334 | Outstanding 2024 | 77 | Compare |
| Bury Park Educational Institute (Al - Hikmah Secondary School) | Independent | 800 m | 139 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| University of Bedfordshire | Higher education institutions | 870 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Tennyson Road Primary School | Academy | 910 m | 724 | Outstanding 2024 | 95 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Rothesay Nursery School a good school?
Rothesay Nursery School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in July 2022.
What is Rothesay Nursery School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Rothesay Nursery School good at its last full inspection on 20 July 2022. That was more than four years ago. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of a single grade.
How many pupils does Rothesay Nursery School have?
127 pupils aged 2 to 5 were on the roll in January 2026.
Does Rothesay Nursery School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) for autism, hearing impairment, moderate learning difficulties, multi-sensory impairment, other needs, physical disability, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication, specific learning difficulties, visual impairment. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 59 Rothesay Road, Luton, LU1 1RB
- Telephone
- 01582 726966
- Website
- www.rothesaynursery.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Nicola Elsmore-Cary
- Type of school
- Local authority nursery school (Local authority nursery school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Nursery school, ages 2-5, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Luton
- Ward
- Farley
- Constituency
- Luton South and South Bedfordshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 109419 · LAESTAB 8211014
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.