Secondary schools in West Northamptonshire

Local authority · East Midlands

West Northamptonshire has 30 secondary schools in this dataset — 25 state-funded and 5 independent. 4 have a religious character; 29 have a sixth form.

How the area compares

The typical school here posts a three-year Progress 8 of -0.02 (average) — which is level with the national median — as an area it is neither ahead of nor behind the country. That is the middle of the 21 schools in this area with a published score.

The spread inside the area is wider than the gap between areas: from -1.03 to +0.97. Which school a child goes to matters more here than which area you move to.

For 2026 entry the typical school here drew 0.84 first preferences per place — less pressure than the national median of 0.95×. 6 of the 21 schools with published figures were named first by more families than they had places for. A high figure means popular, not good, and it is not your chance of a place — that depends on where you live.

Overall absence runs at 8.8% for the typical school here, level with the national median of 8.7%. Absence is a plainer signal of whether pupils are turning up and engaged than any grade average.

The schools, ranked

Ordered on the three-year average Progress 8, which is steadier than any single year. Read the confidence interval beside each score before you read the order: it is the range the school's true figure is likely to sit in, and a wide one means a small year group rather than an unpredictable school.

Progress 8 and Attainment 8 are three-year averages (2021–22 to 2023–24). Admissions pressure is first preferences per place for 2026 entry. The Ofsted column mixes three regimes — a legacy overall grade, a 2025 report-card achievement grade, and the outcome of an ungraded inspection — which are not the same judgement; each school's own page says which it has.
SchoolProgress 895% intervalAttainment 8PressureOfsted
1Northampton AcademyAcademy sponsor led+0.97well above average+0.70 to +1.032023–2453.41.62×Outstanding
2Northampton School for BoysAcademy converter+0.73well above average+0.76 to +1.142023–2460.82.62×
3Wootton Park SchoolFree schools+0.72well above average+0.39 to +0.912023–2454.82.69×Standards maintained (ungraded)
4Northampton School for GirlsAcademy converter+0.63well above average+0.32 to +0.662023–2456.01.00×Strong standard (achievement)
5Sponne SchoolAcademy converter+0.27above average+0.09 to +0.462023–2454.40.97×
6Chenderit SchoolAcademy converter+0.14average-0.03 to +0.392023–2447.81.38×Good
7Caroline Chisholm SchoolAcademy converter+0.13average-0.08 to +0.262023–2452.30.74×Good
8The Duston SchoolAcademy converter+0.11average-0.03 to +0.312023–2447.61.19×Strong standard (achievement)
9Malcolm Arnold AcademyAcademy sponsor led+0.08average-0.15 to +0.232023–2445.10.71×Good (ungraded)
10Campion SchoolAcademy converter+0.05average-0.03 to +0.372023–2447.10.64×Expected standard (achievement)
11Abbeyfield SchoolAcademy sponsor led-0.02average-0.15 to +0.212023–2444.80.50×Needs attention (achievement)
12Kingsthorpe CollegeAcademy converter-0.04average-0.45 to -0.082023–2443.70.74×Good
13Guilsborough AcademyAcademy converter-0.09average-0.36 to +0.022023–2447.80.75×Requires improvement
14Weston Favell AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.11average-0.31 to +0.052023–2440.20.58×Good
15St Thomas Becket Catholic SchoolAcademy converter-0.15average-0.48 to +0.032023–2438.90.43×Good
16Moulton School and Science CollegeAcademy converter-0.16average-0.28 to +0.082023–2447.60.65×Good
17Elizabeth Woodville SchoolAcademy converter-0.20average-0.23 to +0.192023–2445.90.95×
18The Parker E-ACT AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.29below average-0.48 to -0.062023–2439.30.92×
19DSLV E-ACT AcademyAcademy sponsor led-0.37below average-0.64 to -0.172023–2439.70.84×Good
20Northampton International AcademyFree schools-0.39below average-0.44 to -0.112023–2437.30.49×
21Silverstone UTCUniversity technical college-1.03well below average-1.55 to -1.002023–2436.7Requires improvement

2 of the 20 other schools ranked here have a confidence interval that overlaps Northampton Academy's. On these figures they cannot be told apart from the school at the top of the table, and the order between them is not a finding. 11 schools here have an interval that includes zero (shaded above) — those cannot be told apart from an average school nationally.

Schools with no Progress 8 score

These are not bottom of the table — they are not in it. A school with no published score has not done badly; the measure was not calculated for it, and the reason differs.

Bosworth Independent SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Moulton CollegeSixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8
Northampton CollegeSixth-form or 16–19 site — no GCSE cohort, so no Progress 8
Northampton High School GDSTIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Northampton SchoolNo Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort
Oneschool Global Uk, Northampton CampusIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Pitsford SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Quinton House SchoolIndependent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools
Roade Village AcademyNo Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort

Where the competition is

The most sought-after school in West Northamptonshire for 2026 entry was Wootton Park School at 2.69 first preferences per place — 301 families named it first for 112 places.

Pressure is not a chance of admission. A school with two applicants per place can still admit every family living near it, while a less popular school further away turns you down. Distance from the gate is usually what decides it, and no national figure can tell you that for your own address.

See West Northamptonshire on the map →The same schools on a map, with every filter: results, admissions pressure, Ofsted, faith and selection — or sorted by distance from your own postcode.

Nearby areas

Admissions do not stop at an authority line. If you live near one, your realistic list of schools spans both sides of it.

What this page doesn't tell you

The results here are for 2023–24 and earlier, so they describe pupils who have already left. Nothing on this page covers sixth-form results, pastoral care, music, sport or drama, or how a school feels to walk around — which is what parents most often say settled it. The ranking is a starting point for a shortlist, not a verdict on a school.

Nor is it a prediction of a place. Admission depends on each school's criteria and, most often, on how far you live from it — and in West Northamptonshire you apply for a state-funded place through the council's coordinated scheme, naming several schools in order of preference.