North Oxfordshire Academy
Drayton Road, Banbury, OX16 0UD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- UNITED LEARNING TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Ellie Jacobs
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- United Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Banbury
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,150
- Pupils on roll
- 1,004
- URN
- 135365
- Local authority
- Oxfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01295224300
About this school
North Oxfordshire Academy is a secondary academy in Banbury. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,004 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 9 November 2022, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 173 | 163 | 174 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.9 | 44.6 | 46.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.14 -0.08 to +0.36 | +0.14 -0.08 to +0.37 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 50.3% | 51.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 63.8% | 67.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 73% | 65% | 52.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 4.2 | 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 North Oxfordshire Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Oxfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43.9 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.6 | 37.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.8 | 37.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,001 |
| 2023/24 | 1,037 |
| 2024/25 | 1,023 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How North Oxfordshire Academy compares
North Oxfordshire Academy ranked 17th of 41 secondary schools in Oxfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.8 | 8.8% | 31.7% | 1,004 | — |
| Futures Institute Banbury | 41.1 | 7.4% | 33.3% | 116 | 1.8 miles |
| Wykham Park | 34.8 | 12.5% | 33.7% | 800 | 1.8 miles |
| Blessed George Napier Catholic School and Sixth Form | 48.5 | 6.6% | 15.3% | 943 | 2.0 miles |
| The Warriner School | 44.3 | 10.5% | 19.6% | 1,553 | 3.1 miles |
| Chenderit School | 50 | 8.4% | 15% | 1,104 | 4.2 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 31.73%
- English as an additional language
- 29.7%
- Overall absence
- 8.82%
- Persistent absence
- 24.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Futures Institute Banbury1.8 miles
Secondary · Banbury
-
Wykham Park1.8 miles
Secondary · Banbury
-
Blessed George Napier Catholic School and Sixth Form2.0 miles
Secondary · Banbury
-
The Warriner School3.1 miles
Secondary · Banbury
-
Chenderit School4.2 miles
Secondary · Banbury
Other schools in Banbury
North Oxfordshire Academy ranks 3rd of the 6 ranked secondary schools in Banbury.
- Blessed George Napier Catholic School and Sixth Form Secondary
- Chenderit School Secondary
- Futures Institute Banbury Secondary
- The Warriner School Secondary
- Wykham Park Secondary
- Bishop Carpenter Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bishop Loveday Church of England Primary School Primary
- Bloxham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Brailes Church of England Primary School Primary
- Chacombe CEVA Primary Academy Primary
- Cherry Fields Primary School Primary
- Chipping Warden Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does North Oxfordshire Academy teach?
- North Oxfordshire Academy teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Banbury.
- Who is the principal of North Oxfordshire Academy?
- The principal of North Oxfordshire Academy is Mrs Ellie Jacobs, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was North Oxfordshire Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected North Oxfordshire Academy, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is North Oxfordshire Academy?
- North Oxfordshire Academy has 1,004 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is North Oxfordshire Academy full?
- North Oxfordshire Academy has capacity for 1,150 pupils and 1,004 on roll (87%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is North Oxfordshire Academy a faith school?
- No. North Oxfordshire Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is North Oxfordshire Academy a selective school?
- No. North Oxfordshire Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs North Oxfordshire Academy?
- North Oxfordshire Academy is part of UNITED LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have North Oxfordshire Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.9 in 2022/23 and 46.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does North Oxfordshire Academy rank locally?
- North Oxfordshire Academy ranked 17th of 41 secondary schools in Oxfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is North Oxfordshire Academy's absence rate?
- North Oxfordshire Academy's overall absence rate is 8.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are North Oxfordshire Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, North Oxfordshire Academy'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 1 July 2026.