SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Rushden, North Northamptonshire

Rushden Academy

Hayway, Rushden, Northamptonshire, NN10 6AG

Ofsted Good · 2022 Sixth form
School website 01933350391

Ofsted

Goodas at 13 September 2022

Graded Good at its last graded inspection, on 13 September 2022.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

41.6 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

27% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

57% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.4 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

14% England 40.8%

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

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is middle, which is where this one sits, it is in the lower half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.39confidence interval -0.62 to -0.17

Taking that range into account, pupils made less progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as below 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
D+
Average points per entry
23.9

England average 32.3

A level students
47

Pupils

Pupils on roll
961
Places
1295
How full
74% full — 961 of 1295 places taken, so places are likely to be available
Girls / boys
499 / 462
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
25%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
26%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
12%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
2%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
12%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
89%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
82%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
39%
No sustained destination
7%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
133

After sixth form

Went to university
34%

England 50%

In education, work or training
83%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
9%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
58

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

7% 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
48%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
44

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 034B, 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
23%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
19%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
61%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
18%

England 17%

Households with no car
18%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
34%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy sponsor led
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
TOVE LEARNING TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Jonathan Firth
Local authority
North Northamptonshire
Ward
Rushden Lakes
Constituency
Wellingborough and Rushden
URN
146209

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
The Ferrers SchoolAcademy converter No grade 38.9 0.8 mi
Huxlow AcademyAcademy converter No grade 41.9 2.3 mi
Wellingborough SchoolOther independent school No grade 3.5 mi
RefocusOther independent school No grade 3.5 mi
Wrenn SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 40.9 3.5 mi
Wollaston SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 46.1 3.7 mi
Sir Christopher Hatton AcademyAcademy converter Good 2022 50.2 3.9 mi
Manor SchoolAcademy converter Inadequate 2024 40 4.4 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
Brighouse High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 40
Bottisham Village CollegeAcademy converter Requires improvement 2024 51.1
Framwellgate School DurhamAcademy converter No grade 45.2
Stratton SchoolAcademy converter No grade 38.9
Kingsthorpe CollegeAcademy converter No grade 39.6
The Gatwick SchoolFree schools Good 2024 39.7
Flegg High Ormiston AcademyAcademy converter No grade 42
Frome Community CollegeAcademy converter Good 2023 42.7

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.