The Bulwell Academy
Hucknall Lane, Nottingham, NG6 8AQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CREATIVE EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Matt Irons
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Creative Education Trust
- Constituency
- Nottingham North and Kimberley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,051
- URN
- 145952
- Local authority
- Nottingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01159647640
About this school
The Bulwell Academy is a secondary academy in Nottingham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,051 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 189 | 191 | 188 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.4 | 34.1 | 36.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.38 -0.59 to -0.18 | -0.72 -0.93 to -0.52 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 26.2% | 29.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 51% | 47.6% | 46.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 7% | 6.8% | 12.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.0 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How The Bulwell 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 | Nottingham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 38.4 | 38.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 34.1 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 36.1 | 38.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,074 |
| 2023/24 | 1,070 |
| 2024/25 | 1,047 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Bulwell Academy compares
The Bulwell Academy ranked 17th of 18 secondary schools in Nottingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 29% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 36.1 | 11% | 53.9% | 1,051 | — |
| Park Vale Academy | 42.8 | 11.2% | 44.4% | 880 | 0.9 miles |
| The Oakwood Academy | 41.3 | 12% | 40.4% | 737 | 1.6 miles |
| Ellis Guilford School | 37.1 | 10% | 47.6% | 1,171 | 1.9 miles |
| The Holgate Academy | 34.3 | 11.4% | 38.2% | 1,207 | 2.2 miles |
| The Kimberley School | 51 | 7.1% | 20.6% | 1,393 | 2.4 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 report12 May 2026
- 19 March 2024
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 53.87%
- English as an additional language
- 13.8%
- Overall absence
- 11%
- Persistent absence
- 33.24%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Park Vale Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
The Oakwood Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
Ellis Guilford School1.9 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
The Holgate Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
The Kimberley School2.4 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
Other schools in Nottingham
The Bulwell Academy ranks 39th of the 42 ranked secondary schools in Nottingham.
- Aldercar High School Secondary
- Alderman White School Secondary
- Arnold Hill Spencer Academy Secondary
- Ashfield Comprehensive School Secondary
- Bluecoat Aspley Academy Secondary
- Bluecoat Beechdale Academy Secondary
- Bluecoat Trent Academy Secondary
- Bluecoat Wollaton Academy Secondary
- Bramcote College Secondary
- Carlton Academy Secondary
- Chilwell School Secondary
- Christ The King Voluntary Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Bulwell Academy teach?
- The Bulwell Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Nottingham.
- Who is the headteacher of The Bulwell Academy?
- The headteacher of The Bulwell Academy is Mr Matt Irons, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Bulwell Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Bulwell 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 The Bulwell Academy?
- The Bulwell Academy has 1,051 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Bulwell Academy full?
- The Bulwell Academy has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,051 on roll (100%), so it is at or above 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 The Bulwell Academy a faith school?
- No. The Bulwell Academy has no designated religious character.
- Who runs The Bulwell Academy?
- The Bulwell Academy is part of CREATIVE EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Bulwell Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.4 in 2022/23 and 36.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Bulwell Academy rank locally?
- The Bulwell Academy ranked 17th of 18 secondary schools in Nottingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 29% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Bulwell Academy's absence rate?
- The Bulwell Academy's overall absence rate is 11% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Bulwell Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Bulwell 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 15 July 2026.