There is no shortage of excellent secondary schools across Northamptonshire, and this year, they’ve once again shown what they can really do.
The Government has now released the 2024/25 school year’s preliminary performance figures for state-funded secondary schools. These look a little different than usual this year, with the usual improvement-based Progress 8 scores unable to be calculated due to the pandemic disruptions this cohort faced back in their primary school days.
Instead, the default metric used to compare schools is their Attainment 8 scores - a purely performance-based figure derived from pupils’ results in up to eight GCSEs. But in Northamptonshire, many local secondaries excelled over the most recent GCSE season nevertheless.
To celebrate these schools, we’ve created a league table of this year’s highest achievers across the North and West Northamptonshire council areas. Attainment 8 scores go up to 90 and loosely align with GCSE 9-1 number grades, with the national average being 45.9 this year - somewhere between the standard and strong passing grades of 4 to 5. We’ve only those with scores of at least 50, or close to it. In cases where two schools had the same score, they have been ordered alphabetically.
Of course, grades aren’t the only measurement of what kind of learning environment a school provides. That is why we’ve also checked to make sure each school included had a positive mark in its latest Ofsted inspection. These are set to change this month, but for now, we’ve only included schools with either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade before last September, or positive ratings across all categories if they’ve been inspected since.
Here were the 13 schools which came out on top across Northamptonshire:
1. Bishop Stopford School
At the top of the list is Bishop Stopford, an Anglican secondary academy in Kettering, North Northamptonshire. In a recent Ofsted inspection, it was found to be ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in all categories. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 58.6 – compared to a local average of 42.8 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
2. Northampton School for Boys
Next up is this boys’ secondary academy in Northampton, which in a recent Ofsted inspection, was found to be ‘outstanding’ in all categories. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 57.9 – compared to a local average of 44.6 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
3. Northampton School for Girls
Like its counterpart, this is a girls’ secondary academy in Northampton, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 54.7 – compared to a local average of 44.6 and a national average of 45.9. | Google
4. Wootton Park School
Wootton Park is an all-through academy in Northampton, most recently rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2024/25 school year, it had an Attainment 8 score of 53.5 – compared to a local average of 44.6 and a national average of 45.9. | Google