The Duston School
Berrywood Road, Duston, Northampton, NN5 6XA
- Phase
- All-through
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 4 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- LUMINARA EDUCATION TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Samuel Strickland
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Northampton South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,830
- Pupils on roll
- 2,064
- URN
- 138214
- Local authority
- West Northamptonshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01604460004
About this school
The Duston School is an all-through academy in Northampton. It teaches children aged 4 to 18 and has 2,064 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected The Duston 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 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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong 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 | 61 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 62% | 70% | 72% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 3% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 82% | 82% | 82% |
| Expected standard in maths | 79% | 79% | 82% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 85% | 82% | 85% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 105.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.40 | - | - |
| 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 | 239 | 263 | 273 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.5 | 48.4 | 50.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.17 -0.02 to +0.35 | +0.14 -0.03 to +0.31 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 52.9% | 48.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 76% | 71.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 72% | 65% | 60.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.5 | 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 The Duston 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 | 62% | 57.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 70% | 60.9% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 72% | 60.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | West Northamptonshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 46.5 | 36.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48.4 | 36.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 50 | 35.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,951 |
| 2023/24 | 1,982 |
| 2024/25 | 2,018 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Duston School compares
The Duston School ranked 8th of 22 secondary schools in West Northamptonshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 76% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50 | 6.9% | 18.7% | 2,064 | — |
| Northampton International Academy | 36.4 | 8.6% | 26.8% | 1,754 | 2.4 miles |
| Wootton Park School | 53.6 | 5.4% | 10.5% | 1,670 | 3.4 miles |
| Caroline Chisholm School | 50.4 | 7.3% | 12.2% | 2,049 | 4.8 miles |
| DSLV E-ACT Academy | 37.2 | 8.6% | 32.5% | 997 | 8.3 miles |
| Duston Eldean Primary School | — | 3.9% | 9.8% | 418 | 0.5 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 March 2026
- 22 June 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.71%
- English as an additional language
- 16.6%
- Overall absence
- 6.91%
- Persistent absence
- 17.22%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Northampton International Academy2.4 miles
All-through · Northampton
-
Wootton Park School3.4 miles
All-through · Northampton
-
Caroline Chisholm School4.8 miles
All-through · Northampton
-
DSLV E-ACT Academy8.3 miles
All-through · Daventry
-
Duston Eldean Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Northampton
Other schools in Northampton
The Duston School ranks 31st of the 99 ranked primary schools in Northampton, and The Duston School ranks 6th of the 15 ranked secondary schools in Northampton.
- Caroline Chisholm School All-through
- Northampton International Academy All-through
- Wootton Park School All-through
- Camrose Early Years Centre for Children & Families Nursery
- Gloucester Nursery School Nursery
- Parklands Nursery School Nursery
- Wallace Road Nursery School Nursery
- Whitehills Nursery School Nursery
- Abington Vale Primary School Primary
- All Saints CofE VA Primary School Primary
- Ashton CofE Primary School Primary
- Barry Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does The Duston School teach?
- The Duston School teaches children aged 4 to 18. It is an all-through school in Northampton.
- Who is the principal of The Duston School?
- The principal of The Duston School is Mr Samuel Strickland, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has The Duston School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Duston 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 The Duston School?
- The Duston School has 2,064 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 18.
- Is The Duston School full?
- The Duston School has capacity for 1,830 pupils and 2,064 on roll (113%), 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 The Duston School a faith school?
- No. The Duston School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Duston School a selective school?
- No. The Duston School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Does The Duston School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records The Duston School as having no nursery classes.
- Is The Duston School part of an academy trust?
- The Duston School is part of LUMINARA EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Duston School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 62% in 2022/23 and 72% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Duston School compare with other schools in West Northamptonshire?
- The Duston School ranked 8th of 22 secondary schools in West Northamptonshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 76% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 26% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Duston School's absence rate?
- The Duston School's overall absence rate is 6.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Duston School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Duston 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.