SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Kettering, North Northamptonshire

Bishop Stopford School

Headlands, Kettering, Northamptonshire, NN15 6BJ

Sixth form Church of England Full
School website 01536503503

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 1 April 2025.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

58.7 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

66% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

84% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

5.5 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

86% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top 10% of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

1.02confidence interval 0.83 to 1.21

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well above average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
B-
Average points per entry
37.4

England average 32.3

A level students
177

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1454
Places
1383
How full
Full — 1454 pupils against 1383 places
Girls / boys
720 / 734
Overall absence
5%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
9%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
7%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
9%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
1%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
7%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
98%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
96%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
71%
No sustained destination
1%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
213

After sixth form

Went to university
74%

England 50%

In education, work or training
93%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
212

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

41% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
80%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
200

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for North Northamptonshire 022B, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
29%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
18%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
75%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
7%

England 17%

Households with no car
15%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
35%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
Church of England
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
BISHOP STOPFORD SCHOOL
Headteacher
Headteacher: Jill Silverthorne
Local authority
North Northamptonshire
Ward
St Michael
Constituency
Kettering
URN
137086

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Southfield School for GirlsAcademy converter Good 2023 46.8 0.4 mi
Kettering Science AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 37.3 1.1 mi
Youth Works Community CollegeOther independent school No grade 1.4 mi
The Latimer Arts CollegeFoundation school Good 2023 44.8 1.5 mi
Kettering Buccleuch AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 48.3 1.9 mi
Montsaye AcademyAcademy converter Inadequate 2023 4.4 mi
Sir Christopher Hatton AcademyAcademy converter Good 2022 50.2 5.5 mi
Brooke Weston AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 50.5 5.7 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Simon Langton Girls' Grammar SchoolVoluntary controlled school Good 2023 67.7
Devonport High School for BoysAcademy converter Good 2023 69.3
Maiden Erlegh SchoolAcademy converter No grade 55.5
Howard of Effingham SchoolAcademy converter No grade 57.1
Kesteven and Sleaford High School Selective AcademyAcademy converter No grade 61.8
Simon Langton Grammar School for BoysFoundation school No grade 66.8
Newport Girls' High School AcademyAcademy converter Outstanding 2022 75.3
Invicta Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 70.8

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.