Kettering Buccleuch Academy
Weekley Glebe Road, Kettering, NN16 9NS
- Phase
- All-through
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 4 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Christian
- Trust
- UNITED LEARNING TRUST
- Principal
- Miss Chloe Buckenham
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- United Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Kettering
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,820
- Pupils on roll
- 1,808
- URN
- 135966
- Local authority
- North Northamptonshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01536515644
About this school
Kettering Buccleuch Academy is a Christian all-through academy in Kettering. It teaches children aged 4 to 18 and has 1,808 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Strong standard
- Post-16 provision
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 61 | 60 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 57% | 67% | 65% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 2% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 72% | 82% | 75% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 73% | 73% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 61% | 58% | 60% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 105.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 103.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.90 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 234 | 235 | 240 |
| Attainment 8 score | 53.0 | 50.7 | 48.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.58 +0.39 to +0.76 | +0.52 +0.34 to +0.71 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 53% | 51.1% | 45.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 77% | 65.1% | 64.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 68% | 66.4% | 68.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.6 |
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 Kettering Buccleuch 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 | North Northamptonshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 57% | 57.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 67% | 58.5% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 65% | 58.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | North Northamptonshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53 | 38.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.7 | 36.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.3 | 36.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,858 |
| 2023/24 | 1,869 |
| 2024/25 | 1,851 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Kettering Buccleuch Academy compares
Kettering Buccleuch Academy ranked 5th of 19 secondary schools in North Northamptonshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.3 | 7.1% | 26.2% | 1,808 | — |
| Ronald Tree Nursery School | — | — | 0% | 128 | 0.4 miles |
| Grange Primary Academy | — | 5.3% | 39.3% | 229 | 0.5 miles |
| Kettering Park Infant Academy | — | 5.8% | 27.4% | 220 | 0.5 miles |
| Kettering Park Junior Academy | — | 4.9% | 28.6% | 347 | 0.5 miles |
| Brambleside Primary School | — | 4% | 10% | 416 | 0.6 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
-
Graded inspection report10 February 2026
- 19 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 26.21%
- English as an additional language
- 16%
- Overall absence
- 7.12%
- Persistent absence
- 17.75%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ronald Tree Nursery School0.4 miles
Nursery · Kettering
-
Grange Primary Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Kettering
-
Kettering Park Infant Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Kettering
-
Kettering Park Junior Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Kettering
-
Brambleside Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Kettering
Other schools in Kettering
Kettering Buccleuch Academy ranks 16th of the 35 ranked primary schools in Kettering, and Kettering Buccleuch Academy ranks 2nd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Kettering.
- Ronald Tree Nursery School Nursery
- Barton Seagrave Primary School Primary
- Brambleside Primary School Primary
- Brigstock Latham's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Broughton Primary School Primary
- Compass Primary Academy Primary
- Cranford CofE Primary School Primary
- Geddington Church of England Primary School Primary
- Grange Primary Academy Primary
- Great Addington CofE Primary School Primary
- Greenfields Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Hall Meadow Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Kettering Buccleuch Academy teach?
- Kettering Buccleuch Academy teaches children aged 4 to 18. It is an all-through school in Kettering.
- Who is the principal of Kettering Buccleuch Academy?
- The principal of Kettering Buccleuch Academy is Miss Chloe Buckenham, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Kettering Buccleuch Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Kettering Buccleuch 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 Kettering Buccleuch Academy?
- Kettering Buccleuch Academy has 1,808 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 18.
- Is Kettering Buccleuch Academy full?
- Kettering Buccleuch Academy has capacity for 1,820 pupils and 1,808 on roll (99%), 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 Kettering Buccleuch Academy a faith school?
- Yes. Kettering Buccleuch Academy is designated Christian.
- Is Kettering Buccleuch Academy a selective school?
- No. Kettering Buccleuch Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Kettering Buccleuch Academy?
- Kettering Buccleuch 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 Kettering Buccleuch Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 57% in 2022/23 and 65% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Kettering Buccleuch Academy rank locally?
- Kettering Buccleuch Academy ranked 5th of 19 secondary schools in North Northamptonshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Kettering Buccleuch Academy's absence rate?
- Kettering Buccleuch Academy's overall absence rate is 7.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Kettering Buccleuch Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Kettering Buccleuch 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.