 <p>Short answer; no.</p> <p>First, Core Data works with objects not raw values like this. </p> <p>Second, a <code>NSFetchedResultsController</code> is designed to return a set of objects that are of the same entity type and potentially separated into sections. What you are describing is a multi-level structure and does not fit into the goal of the <code>NSFetchedResultsController</code>.</p> <h2>Update</h2> <p>If you are just looking to get back a <code>NSArray</code> of <code>XEntity</code> sorted by <code>yProperty</code> without regard to the parent/child relationship within <code>XEntity</code> then you don't need a <code>NSFetchedResultsController</code>. Just create a <code>NSFetchedRequest</code> with the <code>-setEntity:</code> set to <code>XEntity</code> and add a <code>NSSortDescriptor</code> that sorts on <code>yProperty</code> and execute the fetch against the <code>NSManagedObjectContext</code>.</p> <p>If you want to be updated when that data changes then you would want to use a <code>NSFetchedResultsController</code> with that same <code>NSFetchRequest</code>.</p>