Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and East Northants schools ranked by pupil progress

New figures have revealed the gap between those county schools where pupils make good progress and those where progress is well below the national average.
Southfield School A-level students picking up their exam results earlier this year. Progress 8 measures pupil progress up to Year 11Southfield School A-level students picking up their exam results earlier this year. Progress 8 measures pupil progress up to Year 11
Southfield School A-level students picking up their exam results earlier this year. Progress 8 measures pupil progress up to Year 11

Secondary schools are ranked by the Department for Education according to how well pupils have progressed between the end of primary school and the end of secondary school.

This progress is measured by assessing exam results in English, maths and other subjects including sciencs, history, geography and languages and is called the Progress 8 score.

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Achieving a good Progress 8 score does not necessarily equate to good GCSE results – it just reflects how much a set of pupils have improved by between Year 7 and Year 11.

The top school in the county according to this measure is Southfield School for Girls in Kettering, with a Progress 8 score of 0.71.

This puts it well above the national average and in the top 12 per cent of schools in England.

Also in this bracket are Sir Christopher Hatton Academy in Wellingborough, Sponne School in Towcester and Brooke Weston Academy in Corby, all with scores of more than 0.5.

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There are six county schools in the ‘Above Average’ range, including Northampton School for Boys and Northampton School for Girls, Weavers Academy in Wellingborough and Bishop Stopford School in Kettering.

Eighteen schools are in the ‘Average’ section in the county – nationally 40 per cent of schools are ranked average.

Those schools where pupils are said to be making less progress than the national average include the DSLV E-ACT Academy in Daventry and Huxlow Science College in Irthlingborough.

Seven schools find themselves at the ‘Well Below Average’ end of the table – Kettering Science Academy, Elizabeth Woodville School in Deanshanger, Kingswood Secondary Academy in Corby, The Ferrers School in Higham Ferrers, Rushden Community College, Daventry UTC (now closed) and Silverstone UTC.

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Southfield headteacher Steph Roberts said: “I am extremely proud of this exceptional outcome.

“This is the culmination of a relentless drive to raise standards at the school. This has only been achieved by everyone working together.

“Our vision for Southfield is to become an established world class school for the benefit of all our students, present and future.

“This result demonstrates that we are clearly well on the way to realising our ambition.”

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Associate principal at Sir Christopher Hatton Academy Andrew Wilson said: “We are delighted that the performance tables confirm Ofsted’s judgement that the academy is outstanding across all areas of the main school.

“We are very proud to be not only the highest performing school within Wellingborough but one of the highest in the county and indeed nationally.”

Executive principal Victoria Bishop said: “I am extremely proud that this confirms we are the one of the highest performing secondary schools nationally.

“This is a testament to the hard work of the students and the staff and I would like to thank them all for their commitment and focus in ensuring our students have the best possible outcomes and life chances.”

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Brooke Weston Academy associate principal Peter Kirkbride said: “All of the staff and students are delighted by these results and the exceptional progress made.

“This is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the whole Brooke Weston community.”

Kettering Science Academy principal Tony Segalini said: “KSA is going through a process of change and regeneration where our focus is to deliver rapid and sustained improvements.

“While the Progress 8 measure is not where we want it to be, it is, nevertheless, an improvement on last year’s figure.

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“Our dedicated staff work tirelessly to ensure that our students have the best teaching and learning opportunities possible and so, I am very confident that next year will show a further increase.

“Progress 8 is a measure of just one aspect of school life and KSA is about so much more, including ensuring that our students are confident, happy individuals who feel safe, respected and challenged to work at their optimum level.”

The full list of schools can be found here.