Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy
Dunston Lane, Newbold, Chesterfield, S41 8EY
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- MINERVA LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Louise Parker
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Minerva Learning Trust
- SEN provision
- PD - Physical Disability
- Constituency
- Chesterfield
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 270
- Pupils on roll
- 227
- URN
- 145250
- Local authority
- Derbyshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01246450601
About this school
Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy is a primary academy in Chesterfield. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 227 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- 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 | 32 | 43 | 35 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 44% | 40% | 31% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 2% | 9% |
| Expected standard in reading | 53% | 56% | 49% |
| Expected standard in maths | 59% | 63% | 51% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 59% | 47% | 34% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 101.0 | 101.0 | 100.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 101.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -4.30 | - | - |
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 Dunston Primary and Nursery 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 | Derbyshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44% | 58.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 40% | 56.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 31% | 57.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 298 |
| 2023/24 | 281 |
| 2024/25 | 255 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy compares
Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy ranked 233rd of 246 primary schools in Derbyshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 7% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 38% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 31% | 6% | 60.4% | 227 | — |
| Newbold CofE Primary School | 70% | 5.4% | 48.1% | 218 | 0.3 miles |
| Cavendish Junior School | 43% | 4.5% | 59% | 86 | 0.6 miles |
| Highfield Hall Primary School | 43% | 6.2% | 33.3% | 375 | 0.7 miles |
| Whittington Moor Nursery and Infant Academy | — | 4.9% | 57.8% | 68 | 0.7 miles |
| Christ Church CofE Primary School | 73% | 4.2% | 27.8% | 198 | 1.0 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)
- 60.41%
- English as an additional language
- 7.5%
- Overall absence
- 6.03%
- Persistent absence
- 15.56%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Newbold CofE Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Chesterfield
-
Cavendish Junior School0.6 miles
Primary · Chesterfield
-
Highfield Hall Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Chesterfield
-
Whittington Moor Nursery and Infant Academy0.7 miles
Primary · Chesterfield
-
Christ Church CofE Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Chesterfield
Other schools in Chesterfield
Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy ranks 45th of the 48 ranked primary schools in Chesterfield.
- Abercrombie Primary School Primary
- Arkwright Primary School Primary
- Ashover Primary School Primary
- Barlborough Primary School Primary
- Barrow Hill Primary Academy Primary
- Bolsover Church of England Junior School Primary
- Bolsover Infant School Primary
- Bramley Vale Primary & Nursery School Primary
- Brampton Primary School Primary
- Brimington Junior School Primary
- Brimington Manor Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Brockley Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy teach?
- Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Chesterfield.
- Who is the headteacher of Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy?
- The headteacher of Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy is Mrs Louise Parker, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Dunston Primary and Nursery 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 Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy?
- Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy has 227 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy full?
- Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy has capacity for 270 pupils and 227 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 Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy a faith school?
- No. Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy as having nursery classes.
- Is Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy part of an academy trust?
- Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy is part of MINERVA LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy have?
- The schools register lists Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy's special educational needs provision as: PD - Physical Disability. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Dunston Primary and Nursery 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 31% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy compare with other schools in Derbyshire?
- Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy ranked 233rd of 246 primary schools in Derbyshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 7% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 38% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy's absence rate?
- Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy's overall absence rate is 6% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Dunston Primary and Nursery Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Dunston Primary and Nursery 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 10 July 2026.