SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Ipswich, Suffolk

Northgate High School

Sidegate Lane West, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4 3DL

Sixth form
School website 01473210123

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 3 December 2024.

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

50.6 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

55% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

75% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.3 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

18% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the upper half of state-funded secondaries in England.

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

Progress 8 2023/24

0.35confidence interval 0.17 to 0.53

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as 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
C+
Average points per entry
31.9

England average 32.3

A level students
202

Pupils

Pupils on roll
1750
Places
1777
How full
Nearly full — 1750 of 1777 places taken
Girls / boys
885 / 865
Overall absence
8%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
23%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
19%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
17%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
12%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
96%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
92%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
64%
No sustained destination
2%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
250

After sixth form

Went to university
52%

England 50%

In education, work or training
86%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
7%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
215

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

16% 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
64%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
242

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 Ipswich 004E, 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
28%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
22%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
66%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
23%

England 17%

Households with no car
17%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
45%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Community school
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Rowena Mackie
Local authority
Suffolk
Ward
Rushmere
Constituency
Ipswich
URN
124840

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
St Alban's Catholic High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 46.9 1 mi
Copleston High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 46.9 1.3 mi
Ipswich SchoolOther independent school No grade 1.3 mi
Ormiston Endeavour AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 42.8 2 mi
Stoke High School - Ormiston AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 34.3 2.4 mi
Westbourne AcademyAcademy converter No grade 39.7 2.5 mi
Kesgrave High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 49.7 2.7 mi
St Joseph's CollegeOther independent school No grade 2.8 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
Wadham SchoolVoluntary controlled school No grade 42.3
Teignmouth Community School, Exeter RoadAcademy converter No grade 42.3
Erasmus Darwin AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 47.8
Goffs AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 49.1
John Hanson Community SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 43.5
Heart of England SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 47.2
Hounsdown SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 46.1
St Ivo AcademyAcademy converter Good 2024 47.1

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.