The Ferrers School
Queensway, Higham Ferrers, Rushden, NN10 8LF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- MERIDIAN TRUST
- Head Teacher
- Mrs Clare Raku
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Meridian Trust
- Constituency
- Wellingborough and Rushden
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,100
- Pupils on roll
- 937
- URN
- 139988
- Local authority
- North Northamptonshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01933313411
About this school
The Ferrers School is a secondary academy in Rushden. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 937 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
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Needs attention
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 173 | 147 | 147 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.3 | 39.4 | 38.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.23 -0.44 to -0.02 | -0.28 -0.52 to -0.05 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 35% | 33.3% | 26.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 65% | 49.7% | 48.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 43% | 40.1% | 46.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
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 Ferrers 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 | North Northamptonshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44.3 | 38.4 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.4 | 36.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38.9 | 36.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 914 |
| 2023/24 | 928 |
| 2024/25 | 940 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Ferrers School compares
The Ferrers School ranked 17th of 19 secondary schools in North Northamptonshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 35% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38.9 | 10.2% | 20.1% | 937 | — |
| Rushden Academy | 41.6 | 9.3% | 25.7% | 961 | 0.8 miles |
| Huxlow Academy | 41.9 | 9.6% | 24.8% | 783 | 2.3 miles |
| Manor School | 40 | 9.2% | 22.8% | 851 | 3.6 miles |
| Wrenn School | 40.9 | 8.5% | 30.9% | 1,537 | 4.3 miles |
| Sir Christopher Hatton Academy | 50.2 | 8.1% | 19.4% | 1,440 | 4.5 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 report3 March 2026
- 7 July 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 20.07%
- English as an additional language
- 3.3%
- Overall absence
- 10.24%
- Persistent absence
- 26.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Rushden Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Rushden
-
Huxlow Academy2.3 miles
Secondary · Irthlingborough
-
Manor School3.6 miles
Secondary · Wellingborough
-
Wrenn School4.3 miles
Secondary · Wellingborough
-
Sir Christopher Hatton Academy4.5 miles
Secondary · Wellingborough
Other schools in Rushden
- Rushden Academy Secondary
- Alfred Lord Tennyson School Primary
- Denfield Park Primary School Primary
- Higham Ferrers Junior School Primary
- Higham Ferrers Nursery and Infant School Primary
- Newton Road School Primary
- Rushden Primary Academy Primary
- South End Infant School Primary
- South End Junior School Primary
- St Lawrence Church of England Primary School Primary
- Whitefriars Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Ferrers School teach?
- The Ferrers School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Rushden.
- Who is the head teacher of The Ferrers School?
- The head teacher of The Ferrers School is Mrs Clare Raku, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Ferrers School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Ferrers 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 The Ferrers School?
- The Ferrers School has 937 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is The Ferrers School full?
- The Ferrers School has capacity for 1,100 pupils and 937 on roll (85%), 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 The Ferrers School a faith school?
- No. The Ferrers School has no designated religious character.
- Is The Ferrers School a selective school?
- No. The Ferrers School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The Ferrers School?
- The Ferrers School is part of MERIDIAN TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Ferrers School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.3 in 2022/23 and 38.9 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 Ferrers School rank locally?
- The Ferrers School ranked 17th of 19 secondary schools in North Northamptonshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 35% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% 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 Ferrers School's absence rate?
- The Ferrers School's overall absence rate is 10.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Ferrers School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Ferrers 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.