Northampton School for Boys
Billing Road, Northampton, NN1 5RT
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Boys
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE NSB TRUST
- Headmaster
- Mr Richard Bernard
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Northampton South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,617
- Pupils on roll
- 1,756
- URN
- 136299
- Local authority
- West Northamptonshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01604230240
About this school
Northampton School for Boys is a boys' secondary academy in Northampton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,756 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 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 213 | 220 | 225 |
| Attainment 8 score | 59.1 | 61.6 | 58.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.57 +0.37 to +0.76 | +0.95 +0.76 to +1.14 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 78% | 79.5% | 71.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 89% | 88.6% | 85.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 67% | 75% | 76.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.4 | 5.7 | 5.4 |
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 Northampton School for Boys has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | West Northamptonshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 59.1 | 36.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 61.6 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 58.2 | 35.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,607 |
| 2023/24 | 1,678 |
| 2024/25 | 1,713 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Northampton School for Boys compares
Northampton School for Boys ranked 1st of 22 secondary schools in West Northamptonshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 91% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 76% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 58.2 | 4.4% | 10.6% | 1,756 | — |
| Malcolm Arnold Academy | 41.4 | 9.3% | 25.2% | 1,278 | 1.5 miles |
| Weston Favell Academy | 41.8 | 10.1% | 38.1% | 1,431 | 1.6 miles |
| Northampton School for Girls | 54.9 | 6.4% | 16.6% | 1,670 | 1.8 miles |
| Northampton Academy | 52.1 | 7.4% | 25.4% | 1,712 | 1.9 miles |
| St Thomas Becket Catholic School | 38.7 | 9.8% | 29.6% | 912 | 2.1 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)
- 10.58%
- English as an additional language
- 16.6%
- Overall absence
- 4.38%
- Persistent absence
- 8.04%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Malcolm Arnold Academy1.5 miles
Secondary · Northampton
-
Weston Favell Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Northampton
-
Northampton School for Girls1.8 miles
Secondary · Northampton
-
Northampton Academy1.9 miles
Secondary · Northampton
-
St Thomas Becket Catholic School2.1 miles
Secondary · Northampton
Other schools in Northampton
Northampton School for Boys ranks 1st of the 15 ranked secondary schools in Northampton.
- Abbeyfield School Secondary
- Campion School Secondary
- Guilsborough Academy Secondary
- Kingsthorpe College Secondary
- Malcolm Arnold Academy Secondary
- Moulton School and Science College Secondary
- Northampton Academy Secondary
- Northampton School Secondary
- Northampton School for Girls Secondary
- St Thomas Becket Catholic School Secondary
- Weston Favell Academy Secondary
- Camrose Early Years Centre for Children & Families Nursery
Common questions
- What year groups does Northampton School for Boys teach?
- Northampton School for Boys teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Northampton.
- Who is the headmaster of Northampton School for Boys?
- The headmaster of Northampton School for Boys is Mr Richard Bernard, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Northampton School for Boys last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Northampton School for Boys, 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 Northampton School for Boys?
- Northampton School for Boys has 1,756 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Northampton School for Boys full?
- Northampton School for Boys has capacity for 1,617 pupils and 1,756 on roll (109%), so it is at or above 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 Northampton School for Boys a faith school?
- No. Northampton School for Boys has no designated religious character.
- Is Northampton School for Boys a selective school?
- No. Northampton School for Boys is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Northampton School for Boys?
- Northampton School for Boys is part of THE NSB TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Northampton School for Boys's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 59.1 in 2022/23 and 58.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Northampton School for Boys rank locally?
- Northampton School for Boys ranked 1st of 22 secondary schools in West Northamptonshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 91% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 76% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Northampton School for Boys's absence rate?
- Northampton School for Boys's overall absence rate is 4.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Northampton School for Boys's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Northampton School for Boys'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.