The Wells Academy
Ransom Drive, Nottingham, NG3 5LR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- GREENWOOD ACADEMIES TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr George Coles
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Greenwood Academies Trust
- Constituency
- Nottingham East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 800
- Pupils on roll
- 634
- URN
- 147456
- Local authority
- Nottingham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01157483390
About this school
The Wells Academy is a secondary academy in Nottingham. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 634 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Wells 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
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
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- 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 | 126 | 132 | 144 |
| Attainment 8 score | 38.5 | 34.2 | 43.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.64 -0.91 to -0.36 | -0.95 -1.21 to -0.69 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 28% | 25.8% | 34.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 51% | 47.7% | 59% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 35% | 23.5% | 16% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.3 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
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 Wells 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 | 38.5 | 38.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 34.2 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.1 | 38.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 682 |
| 2023/24 | 702 |
| 2024/25 | 704 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Wells Academy compares
The Wells Academy ranked 9th of 18 secondary schools in Nottingham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43.1 | 7.6% | 50.9% | 634 | — |
| Carlton Academy | 45.1 | 9% | 25.1% | 1,354 | 1.1 miles |
| Bluecoat Trent Academy | — | 9.4% | 51.1% | 1,132 | 1.2 miles |
| Nottingham Free School | 51.5 | 5.6% | 27.7% | 699 | 1.2 miles |
| Arnold Hill Spencer Academy | 49.8 | 9.4% | 19.6% | 1,552 | 1.5 miles |
| Djanogly City Academy | 38 | 10.3% | 49.1% | 1,270 | 1.6 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 report13 January 2026
- 23 May 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 50.85%
- English as an additional language
- 38.4%
- Overall absence
- 7.58%
- Persistent absence
- 24.37%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Carlton Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
Bluecoat Trent Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
Nottingham Free School1.2 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
Arnold Hill Spencer Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
-
Djanogly City Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Nottingham
Other schools in Nottingham
The Wells Academy ranks 26th 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 ages does The Wells Academy teach?
- The Wells Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Nottingham.
- Who is the headteacher of The Wells Academy?
- The headteacher of The Wells Academy is Mr George Coles, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Wells Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Wells 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 The Wells Academy?
- The Wells Academy has 634 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is The Wells Academy full?
- The Wells Academy has capacity for 800 pupils and 634 on roll (79%), 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 The Wells Academy a faith school?
- No. The Wells Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is The Wells Academy a selective school?
- No. The Wells Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is The Wells Academy part of an academy trust?
- The Wells Academy is part of GREENWOOD ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Wells Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 38.5 in 2022/23 and 43.1 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 Wells Academy compare with other schools in Nottingham?
- The Wells Academy ranked 9th of 18 secondary schools in Nottingham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 49% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% 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 Wells Academy's absence rate?
- The Wells Academy's overall absence rate is 7.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Wells Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Wells 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.