Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy
Beacon Road, Loughborough, LE11 2BG
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ST THOMAS AQUINAS CATHOLIC MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lucy Gunton
- Diocese
- Diocese of Nottingham
- Constituency
- Loughborough
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 203
- URN
- 138294
- Local authority
- Leicestershire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01509212204
About this school
Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Loughborough. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 203 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 19 March 2025, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 25 | 31 | 28 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 92% | 87% | 82% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 24% | 10% | 21% |
| Expected standard in reading | 92% | 94% | 89% |
| Expected standard in maths | 92% | 94% | 86% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 92% | 87% | 86% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 109.0 | 108.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +3.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +3.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.50 | - | - |
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 | Leicestershire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 92% | 60.8% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 87% | 60.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 82% | 61.4% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 193 |
| 2023/24 | 200 |
| 2024/25 | 196 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy compares
Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy ranked 20th of 211 primary schools in Leicestershire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 90% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 94% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 82% | 3.4% | 11.2% | 203 | — |
| Mountfields Lodge School | 45% | 4.2% | 10.9% | 468 | 0.2 miles |
| Lift Beacon | 81% | 6% | 47.7% | 379 | 0.6 miles |
| Loughborough Church of England Primary School | 75% | 6.5% | 23.2% | 150 | 0.6 miles |
| Outwoods Edge Primary School | 71% | 4.2% | 14.5% | 412 | 0.7 miles |
| Saint Mary's Catholic Primary School, Loughborough | 58% | 3.4% | 19.5% | 207 | 0.9 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 11.22%
- English as an additional language
- 13.8%
- Overall absence
- 3.41%
- Persistent absence
- 3.31%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Mountfields Lodge School0.2 miles
Primary · Loughborough
-
Lift Beacon0.6 miles
Primary · Loughborough
-
Loughborough Church of England Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Loughborough
-
Outwoods Edge Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Loughborough
-
Saint Mary's Catholic Primary School, Loughborough0.9 miles
Primary · Loughborough
Other schools in Loughborough
Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy ranks 5th of the 34 ranked primary schools in Loughborough.
- Barrow Hall Orchard Church of England Primary School Primary
- Belton Church of England Primary School Primary
- Booth Wood Academy Primary
- Brookside Primary School Primary
- Burton-on-the-Wolds Primary School Primary
- Christ Church & Saint Peter's Cofe Primary School Primary
- Cobden Primary School & Community Centre Primary
- Costock CofE Primary School Primary
- Hathern Church of England Primary School Primary
- Highgate Primary School Primary
- Holywell Primary School Primary
- Lantern Lane Primary and Nursery School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy teach?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Loughborough.
- Who is the headteacher of Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy?
- The headteacher of Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy is Mrs Lucy Gunton, 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 203 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy full?
- Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy has capacity for 210 pupils and 203 on roll (97%), so it is close to full. 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?
- No. The schools register records Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy as having no 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 92% in 2022/23 and 82% 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 20th of 211 primary schools in Leicestershire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 90% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 94% 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 3.4% in the latest published census, at or below 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.