The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School
Kingsland Gardens, Kingsthorpe, Northampton, NN2 7BH
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- OUR LADY IMMACULATE CATHOLIC ACADEMIES TRUST LTD
- Headteacher
- Mrs Carmel Dodds
- Diocese
- Diocese of Northampton
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Academies Trust (OLICAT)
- Constituency
- Northampton North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 282
- URN
- 142742
- Local authority
- West Northamptonshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01604714399
About this school
The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is a Roman Catholic primary academy in Northampton. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 282 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
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 34 | 46 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 50% | 59% | 57% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 6% | 0% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 65% | 72% | 77% |
| Expected standard in maths | 71% | 61% | 70% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 76% | 74% | 63% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 102.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.80 | - | - |
| 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.
Trends over time
How The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary 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 | 50% | 57.9% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 59% | 60.9% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 57% | 60.3% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 296 |
| 2023/24 | 291 |
| 2024/25 | 272 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School compares
The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School ranked 91st of 140 primary schools in West Northamptonshire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 87% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57% | 3.8% | 20.1% | 282 | — |
| Kingsthorpe Grove Primary School | 42% | 5.6% | 32.1% | 471 | 0.1 miles |
| Kingsthorpe Village Primary School | 53% | 4.9% | 7.7% | 202 | 0.4 miles |
| Green Oaks Primary Academy | 53% | 6.4% | 27.6% | 220 | 0.5 miles |
| Malcolm Arnold Preparatory School | 75% | 4.6% | 14.5% | 401 | 0.5 miles |
| Kingsley Primary School | 51% | 5.9% | 27.1% | 401 | 0.9 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)
- 20.08%
- English as an additional language
- 41.9%
- Overall absence
- 3.82%
- Persistent absence
- 7.63%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Kingsthorpe Grove Primary School0.1 miles
Primary · Northampton
-
Kingsthorpe Village Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Northampton
-
Green Oaks Primary Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Northampton
-
Malcolm Arnold Preparatory School0.5 miles
Primary · Northampton
-
Kingsley Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Northampton
Other schools in Northampton
The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School ranks 68th of the 99 ranked primary schools in Northampton.
- Abington Vale Primary School Primary
- All Saints CofE VA Primary School Primary
- Ashton CofE Primary School Primary
- Barry Primary School Primary
- Blackthorn Primary School Primary
- Blisworth Community Primary School Primary
- Boothville Primary School Primary
- Boughton Primary School Primary
- Briar Hill Primary School & Nursery Primary
- Bridgewater Primary School Primary
- Brington Primary School Primary
- Brixworth CofE VC Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School teach?
- The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Northampton.
- Who is the headteacher of The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School?
- The headteacher of The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is Mrs Carmel Dodds, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary 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 Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School?
- The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School has 282 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School full?
- The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 282 on roll (67%), 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 Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Northampton.
- Does The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School?
- The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is part of OUR LADY IMMACULATE CATHOLIC ACADEMIES TRUST LTD. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 50% in 2022/23 and 57% 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 Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School rank locally?
- The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School ranked 91st of 140 primary schools in West Northamptonshire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 87% 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 Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School's absence rate?
- The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary 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 2 July 2026.