Sponne School
Brackley Road, Towcester, NN12 6DJ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- TOVE LEARNING TRUST
- Executive Headteacher
- Mr Graham Forbes
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Tove Learning Trust
- Constituency
- South Northamptonshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,373
- Pupils on roll
- 1,410
- URN
- 136488
- Local authority
- West Northamptonshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01327350284
About this school
Sponne School is a secondary academy in Towcester. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,410 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- 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 | 230 | 232 | 232 |
| Attainment 8 score | 54.3 | 52.3 | 52.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.21 +0.02 to +0.39 | +0.27 +0.09 to +0.46 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 68% | 58.6% | 55.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 87% | 78.4% | 82.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 37% | 22% | 34.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.7 |
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 Sponne 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 | West Northamptonshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 54.3 | 36.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 52.3 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 52 | 35.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,436 |
| 2023/24 | 1,428 |
| 2024/25 | 1,422 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sponne School compares
Sponne School ranked 5th of 22 secondary schools in West Northamptonshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 29% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52 | 6.6% | 13.1% | 1,410 | — |
| Silverstone UTC | 31.1 | 12.8% | 19.3% | 463 | 4.2 miles |
| Elizabeth Woodville School | 44.9 | 8.4% | 16% | 1,124 | 4.2 miles |
| Campion School | 46.2 | 8.5% | 21% | 1,309 | 5.6 miles |
| Abbeyfield School | 44 | 8.9% | 26% | 1,296 | 6.9 miles |
| The Radcliffe School | 38.2 | 9.7% | 41% | 1,192 | 8.8 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)
- 13.06%
- English as an additional language
- 2.7%
- Overall absence
- 6.63%
- Persistent absence
- 16.53%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Silverstone UTC4.2 miles
Secondary · Towcester
-
Elizabeth Woodville School4.2 miles
Secondary · Roade
-
Campion School5.6 miles
Secondary · Northampton
-
Abbeyfield School6.9 miles
Secondary · Northampton
-
The Radcliffe School8.8 miles
Secondary · Milton Keynes
Other schools in Towcester
- Silverstone UTC Secondary
- Blakesley Church of England Primary School Primary
- Greens Norton Church of England Primary School Primary
- John Hellins Primary School Primary
- Marie Weller Primary School Primary
- Nicholas Hawksmoor Primary School Primary
- Pattishall Church of England Primary School Primary
- Paulerspury Church of England Primary School Primary
- Silverstone Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Loys Church of England Primary Academy, Weedon Lois Primary
- Stoke Bruerne Church of England Primary School Primary
- Tiffield Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Sponne School teach?
- Sponne School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Towcester.
- Who is the executive headteacher of Sponne School?
- The executive headteacher of Sponne School is Mr Graham Forbes, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Sponne School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sponne 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 big is Sponne School?
- Sponne School has 1,410 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Sponne School full?
- Sponne School has capacity for 1,373 pupils and 1,410 on roll (103%), 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 Sponne School a faith school?
- No. Sponne School has no designated religious character.
- Is Sponne School a selective school?
- No. Sponne School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Sponne School?
- Sponne School is part of TOVE LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Sponne School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 54.3 in 2022/23 and 52 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sponne School rank locally?
- Sponne School ranked 5th of 22 secondary schools in West Northamptonshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 29% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Sponne School's absence rate?
- Sponne School's overall absence rate is 6.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sponne School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sponne 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 1 July 2026.