Mercer's Wood Academy
Ropery Road, Gainsborough, DN21 2PD
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- TALL OAKS ACADEMY TRUST LTD
- Executive Headteacher
- Mr Kieran Ola
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Tall Oaks Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Gainsborough
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 157
- URN
- 139332
- Local authority
- Lincolnshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01427612572
About this school
Mercer's Wood Academy is a primary academy in Gainsborough. It teaches children aged 5 to 11 and has 157 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Mercer's Wood Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 27 | 23 | 28 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 44% | 27% | 29% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 63% | 43% | 54% |
| Expected standard in maths | 59% | 57% | 68% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 52% | 26% | 50% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 99.0 | 100.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 101.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.70 | - | - |
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 Mercer's Wood 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 | Lincolnshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44% | 54% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 27% | 54.6% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 29% | 56.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 170 |
| 2023/24 | 180 |
| 2024/25 | 177 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Mercer's Wood Academy compares
Mercer's Wood Academy ranked 240th of 246 primary schools in Lincolnshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 6% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 29% | 9.3% | 74.6% | 157 | — |
| The Gainsborough Parish Church Primary School | 49% | 6.5% | 50% | 255 | 0.5 miles |
| Castle Wood Academy | 40% | 4.8% | 36.1% | 272 | 0.6 miles |
| Morton Trentside Primary School | 71% | 6.3% | 34.4% | 178 | 0.6 miles |
| White's Wood Academy | 30% | 5.8% | 64.5% | 195 | 1.2 miles |
| The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy | — | 7% | 53.4% | 231 | 1.2 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)
- 74.58%
- English as an additional language
- 5.1%
- Overall absence
- 9.31%
- Persistent absence
- 31.35%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Gainsborough Parish Church Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Gainsborough
-
Castle Wood Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Gainsborough
-
Morton Trentside Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Gainsborough
-
White's Wood Academy1.2 miles
Primary · Gainsborough
-
The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy1.2 miles
Primary · Gainsborough
Other schools in Gainsborough
Mercer's Wood Academy ranks 15th of the 16 ranked primary schools in Gainsborough.
- Benjamin Adlard Primary School Primary
- Blyton Cum Laughton Church of England School Primary
- Castle Wood Academy Primary
- Corringham CofE VC Primary School Primary
- Frances Olive Anderson Church of England (Aided) Primary School Primary
- Hemswell Cliff Primary School Primary
- Kirton Lindsey Primary Academy Primary
- Morton Trentside Primary School Primary
- Scotter Primary School Primary
- St George's Church of England Community Primary School, Gainsborough Primary
- The Gainsborough Charles Baines Community Primary School Primary
- The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Mercer's Wood Academy teach?
- Mercer's Wood Academy teaches children aged 5 to 11. It is a primary school in Gainsborough.
- Who is the executive headteacher of Mercer's Wood Academy?
- The executive headteacher of Mercer's Wood Academy is Mr Kieran Ola, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Mercer's Wood Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Mercer's Wood 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 many pupils are at Mercer's Wood Academy?
- Mercer's Wood Academy has 157 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 11.
- Is Mercer's Wood Academy full?
- Mercer's Wood Academy has capacity for 210 pupils and 157 on roll (75%), 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 Mercer's Wood Academy a faith school?
- No. Mercer's Wood Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Mercer's Wood Academy have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Mercer's Wood Academy as having no nursery classes.
- Is Mercer's Wood Academy part of an academy trust?
- Mercer's Wood Academy is part of TALL OAKS ACADEMY TRUST LTD. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Mercer's Wood Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 44% in 2022/23 and 29% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Mercer's Wood Academy compare with other schools in Lincolnshire?
- Mercer's Wood Academy ranked 240th of 246 primary schools in Lincolnshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 6% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Mercer's Wood Academy's absence rate?
- Mercer's Wood Academy's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Mercer's Wood Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Mercer's Wood 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.