Northgate High School
Sidegate Lane West, Ipswich, IP4 3DL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss Rowena Mackie
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Ipswich
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,777
- Pupils on roll
- 1,750
- URN
- 124840
- Local authority
- Suffolk
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01473210123
About this school
Northgate High School is a community secondary school in Ipswich. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,750 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Northgate High School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 250 | 254 | 250 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.6 | 51.2 | 50.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.08 -0.10 to +0.26 | +0.35 +0.17 to +0.53 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 54% | 55.9% | 55.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 75% | 76.4% | 74.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 18% | 17.3% | 18% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.3 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Northgate High School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Suffolk average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.6 | 37.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 51.2 | 37.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 50.6 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,732 |
| 2023/24 | 1,708 |
| 2024/25 | 1,709 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Northgate High School compares
Northgate High School ranked 3rd of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 77% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 14% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50.6 | 8.4% | 18.9% | 1,750 | — |
| St Alban's Catholic High School | 46.9 | 8.1% | 21.6% | 967 | 1.0 miles |
| Copleston High School | 46.9 | 8.5% | 19% | 1,930 | 1.3 miles |
| Ormiston Endeavour Academy | 42.8 | 8.8% | 31.8% | 793 | 2.0 miles |
| Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy | 34.3 | 11.3% | 40.6% | 811 | 2.4 miles |
| Kesgrave High School | 49.7 | 7.6% | 15.1% | 1,875 | 2.7 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.89%
- English as an additional language
- 17.1%
- Overall absence
- 8.4%
- Persistent absence
- 22.9%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Alban's Catholic High School1.0 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Copleston High School1.3 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Ormiston Endeavour Academy2.0 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy2.4 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
-
Kesgrave High School2.7 miles
Secondary · Ipswich
Other schools in Ipswich
Northgate High School ranks 1st of the 12 ranked secondary schools in Ipswich.
- Chantry Academy Secondary
- Claydon High School Secondary
- Copleston High School Secondary
- Hadleigh High School Secondary
- Holbrook Academy Secondary
- Ipswich Academy Secondary
- Kesgrave High School Secondary
- Ormiston Endeavour Academy Secondary
- St Alban's Catholic High School Secondary
- Stoke High School - Ormiston Academy Secondary
- Westbourne Academy Secondary
- Highfield Nursery School Nursery
Common questions
- What ages does Northgate High School teach?
- Northgate High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Ipswich.
- Who is the headteacher of Northgate High School?
- The headteacher of Northgate High School is Miss Rowena Mackie, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Northgate High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Northgate High School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Northgate High School?
- Northgate High School has 1,750 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Northgate High School full?
- Northgate High School has capacity for 1,777 pupils and 1,750 on roll (98%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Northgate High School a faith school?
- No. Northgate High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Northgate High School a selective school?
- No. Northgate High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Northgate High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.6 in 2022/23 and 50.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Northgate High School compare with other schools in Suffolk?
- Northgate High School ranked 3rd of 43 secondary schools in Suffolk for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 77% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 14% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Northgate High School's absence rate?
- Northgate High School's overall absence rate is 8.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Northgate High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Northgate High School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.