Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy
Mere Close, Off Mere Road, Leicester, LE5 3HH
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ST THOMAS AQUINAS CATHOLIC MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Alison James and Mrs Marie Sexton
- Diocese
- Diocese of Nottingham
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Leicester East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 371
- Pupils on roll
- 310
- URN
- 138081
- Local authority
- Leicester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01162624418
About this school
Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Leicester. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 310 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 57 | 60 | 56 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 63% | 70% | 66% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 2% | 10% | 9% |
| Expected standard in reading | 72% | 77% | 79% |
| Expected standard in maths | 74% | 87% | 82% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 63% | 75% | 73% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 106.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 107.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.40 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Leicester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 63% | 54.7% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 70% | 57.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 66% | 56.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 396 |
| 2023/24 | 376 |
| 2024/25 | 333 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy compares
Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy ranked 25th of 72 primary schools in Leicester for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 55% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 33% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 66% | 6.4% | 24.7% | 310 | — |
| Bridge Junior School | 43% | 4.5% | 15.6% | 295 | 0.1 miles |
| Green Lane Infant School | — | 6.8% | 10.8% | 278 | 0.1 miles |
| Shenton Primary School | 61% | 5.2% | 21.2% | 360 | 0.2 miles |
| Charnwood Primary School | 67% | 6.9% | 15% | 400 | 0.3 miles |
| Spinney Hill Primary School | 69% | 5.6% | 19% | 687 | 0.4 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report6 January 2026
- 3 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 24.69%
- English as an additional language
- 74.2%
- Overall absence
- 6.35%
- Persistent absence
- 19.38%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bridge Junior School0.1 miles
Primary · Leicester
-
Green Lane Infant School0.1 miles
Primary · Leicester
-
Shenton Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Leicester
-
Charnwood Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Leicester
-
Spinney Hill Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Leicester
Other schools in Leicester
Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy ranks 55th of the 139 ranked primary schools in Leicester.
- Abbey Mead Primary Academy Primary
- Alderman Richard Hallam Primary School Primary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School, Sapcote Primary
- Arnesby Church of England Primary School Primary
- Avenue Primary School Primary
- Badgerbrook Primary School Primary
- Barley Croft Primary School Primary
- Barwell Church of England Academy Primary
- Barwell Infant School Primary
- Beaumont Lodge Primary School Primary
- Belgrave St Peter's CofE Primary School Primary
- Billesdon Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy teach?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Leicester.
- Who is the headteacher of Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy?
- The headteacher of Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy is Mrs Alison James and Mrs Marie Sexton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy has 310 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy full?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy has capacity for 371 pupils and 310 on roll (84%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy a faith school?
- Yes. Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Nottingham.
- Does Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy is part of ST THOMAS AQUINAS CATHOLIC MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 63% in 2022/23 and 66% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy rank locally?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy ranked 25th of 72 primary schools in Leicester for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 55% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 33% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy's absence rate?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy's overall absence rate is 6.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 1 July 2026.