The North School
Essella Road, Ashford, TN24 8AL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- SWALE ACADEMIES TRUST
- Head of School
- Mrs Clair Ellerby
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Swale Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Ashford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,265
- Pupils on roll
- 1,237
- URN
- 148712
- Local authority
- Kent
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01233614600
About this school
The North School is a secondary academy in Ashford. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 1,237 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 13 November 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 201 | 211 | 228 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.7 | 39.6 | 41.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.05 -0.16 to +0.25 | -0.26 -0.45 to -0.06 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 34.1% | 39.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 61% | 55% | 61% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 28% | 33.6% | 36.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.7 |
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 North 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 | Kent average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42.7 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.6 | 37.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.1 | 37.7 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,267 |
| 2023/24 | 1,291 |
| 2024/25 | 1,270 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The North School compares
The North School ranked 54th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 42% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.1 | 9.8% | 32.9% | 1,237 | — |
| The Norton Knatchbull School | 67.3 | 4% | 10.4% | 1,348 | 0.3 miles |
| Highworth Grammar School | 70.8 | 4.8% | 8.4% | 1,553 | 1.2 miles |
| Towers School and Sixth Form Centre | 40.6 | 9.6% | 30.2% | 1,538 | 2.1 miles |
| Chilmington Green School | — | 4.4% | 27.7% | 449 | 3.1 miles |
| Wye School | 46.6 | 6.4% | 24.3% | 557 | 3.7 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)
- 32.87%
- English as an additional language
- 16.7%
- Overall absence
- 9.83%
- Persistent absence
- 28.48%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Norton Knatchbull School0.3 miles
Secondary · Ashford
-
Highworth Grammar School1.2 miles
Secondary · Ashford
-
Towers School and Sixth Form Centre2.1 miles
Secondary · Ashford
-
Chilmington Green School3.1 miles
Secondary · Great Chart
-
Wye School3.7 miles
Secondary · Wye
Other schools in Ashford
The North School ranks 3rd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Ashford.
- Highworth Grammar School Secondary
- The Norton Knatchbull School Secondary
- Towers School and Sixth Form Centre Secondary
- Aldington Primary School Primary
- Ashford Oaks Community Primary School Primary
- Ashford, St Mary's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Beaver Green Primary School Primary
- Bethersden Primary School Primary
- Bodsham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Brabourne Church of England Primary School Primary
- Brook Community Primary School Primary
- Challock Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The North School teach?
- The North School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Ashford.
- Who is the head of school of The North School?
- The head of school of The North School is Mrs Clair Ellerby, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The North School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The North 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 North School?
- The North School has 1,237 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is The North School full?
- The North School has capacity for 1,265 pupils and 1,237 on roll (98%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is The North School a faith school?
- No. The North School has no designated religious character.
- Is The North School a selective school?
- No. The North School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs The North School?
- The North School is part of SWALE ACADEMIES TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does The North School have?
- The schools register lists The North School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The North School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.7 in 2022/23 and 41.1 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 North School rank locally?
- The North School ranked 54th of 100 secondary schools in Kent for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 42% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% 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 North School's absence rate?
- The North School's overall absence rate is 9.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The North School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The North 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 10 July 2026.