Bluecoat Aspley Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,344 pupils
91% stayed in education · Attainment 8 48.6
Academy converter
Fernwood School
- Pupils on roll
- 1,543of 1,500 places
- Free school meals
- 18.2%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 297
- Ofsted
- Outstanding, 12 March 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Fernwood School (URN 122838, until 1 May 2011).
What the data says
Fernwood School has no sixth form. Of the 211 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 56% moved to a sixth form college, 22% to a further education college and 2% started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 56% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
German is unusually popular at GCSE: 23% of the year group took it, against 5% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 53.8 against 46.1 across England and 43.0 in Nottingham, with 63% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Nottingham and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Fernwood School | Nottingham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 211 | 3,152 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 94% | 88% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 92% | 85% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 11% | 27% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 56% | 14% | 13% |
| — further education college | 22% | 42% | 37% |
| — other education | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Employment | 0% | 2% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 5% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 1% | 5% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Fernwood School | Nottingham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 53.8 | 43.0 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 63% | 40% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 80% | 59% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 35% | 27% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.78 | 3.73 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 25% | 42% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 39.4 | 35.1 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 58.4 | 48.8 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 33% | 35% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 296 | 100% | 88% | 35% | 22% | 83% |
| English Language | 296 | 100% | 89% | 27% | 20% | 79% |
| English Literature | 281 | 95% | 86% | 30% | 21% | 88% |
| Religious Studies | 276 | 93% | 31% | 23% | 32% | 61% |
| Biology | 166 | 56% | 23% | 45% | 45% | 92% |
| Physics | 166 | 56% | 23% | 44% | 46% | 91% |
| Chemistry | 166 | 56% | 23% | 45% | 47% | 92% |
| History | 131 | 44% | 41% | 32% | 26% | 67% |
| Combined Science | 127 | 43% | 65% | 10% | 9% | 57% |
| Geography | 114 | 38% | 41% | 41% | 25% | 82% |
| Business Studies | 109 | 37% | 18% | 31% | 20% | 85% |
| French | 68 | 23% | 18% | 38% | 29% | 79% |
| German | 67 | 23% | 5% | 24% | 33% | 84% |
| Physical Education | 53 | 18% | 11% | 21% | 24% | 85% |
| Art and Design | 51 | 17% | 7% | 22% | 24% | 76% |
| Computer Science | 43 | 14% | 13% | 33% | 30% | 88% |
| Design and Technology | 38 | 13% | 11% | 34% | 23% | 82% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 37 | 12% | 8% | 27% | 21% | 68% |
| Photography | 30 | 10% | 6% | 33% | 19% | 90% |
| Drama | 23 | 8% | 7% | 52% | 27% | 87% |
| Music | 10 | 3% | 5% | 30% | 33% | 100% |
| Arabic | 6 | 2% | 1% | 83% | 47% | 100% |
| Chinese | 5 | 2% | 1% | — | 75% | — |
| Portuguese | 2 | 1% | 0% | — | 50% | — |
| Punjabi | 2 | 1% | 0% | — | 48% | — |
| Japanese | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Fine Art | 1 | 0% | 9% | — | 28% | — |
| Polish | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Russian | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
| Statistics | 1 | 0% | 5% | — | 20% | — |
| Turkish | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 71% | — |
| Urdu | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 27 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 23 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 19 | — | — |
| Small Business Management | 13 | — | — |
| Manufacturing Engineering | 12 | — | — |
| Additional Mathematics FSMQ | 10 | — | — |
| Music Technology (Electronic) | 6 | — | — |
| Music performance: Group | 1 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Nottingham
Bluecoat Beechdale Academy
Academy sponsor led · 887 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 34.0
Bluecoat Wollaton Academy
Academy converter · 879 pupils
92% stayed in education · Attainment 8 49.4
Djanogly City Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,270 pupils
83% stayed in education · Attainment 8 38.0
Ellis Guilford School
Academy sponsor led · 1,171 pupils
79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.1
Farnborough Spencer Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,005 pupils
77% stayed in education · Attainment 8 38.9
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.