SF School Facts UK

All-through school in Northampton, West Northamptonshire

The Duston School

Berrywood Road, Duston, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN5 6XA

Sixth form Full
School website 01604460004

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 10 March 2026.

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 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

48% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

72% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.7 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

60% 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

0.14confidence interval -0.03 to 0.31

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as 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
37.7

England average 32.3

A level students
106

Pupils

Pupils on roll
2064
Places
1830
How full
Full — 2064 pupils against 1830 places
Girls / boys
1016 / 1048
Overall absence
7%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
17%

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
1%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
16%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
92%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
85%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
6%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
42%
No sustained destination
7%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
239

After sixth form

Went to university
64%

England 50%

In education, work or training
91%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
119

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

19% 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
78%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
96

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 West Northamptonshire 035B, 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
39%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
10%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
68%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
8%

England 17%

Households with no car
4%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
24%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
All-through
Ages
Ages 4–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
LUMINARA EDUCATION TRUST
Headteacher
Principal: Samuel Strickland
Local authority
West Northamptonshire
Ward
Upton
Constituency
Northampton South
URN
138214

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest all-through schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Quinton House SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.9 mi
Bosworth Independent SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.4 mi
Northampton International AcademyFree schools No grade 36.4 2.4 mi
Malcolm Arnold AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 41.4 2.8 mi
Campion SchoolAcademy converter No grade 46.2 3 mi
Abbeyfield SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 44 3.1 mi
Kingsthorpe CollegeAcademy converter No grade 39.6 3.3 mi
Wootton Park SchoolFree schools No grade 53.6 3.4 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded all-through 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
St Ursula's Convent SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 55.1
Turton SchoolCommunity school Good 2024 43.7
The Blandford SchoolVoluntary controlled school Good 2024 47
Saint Aidan's Church of England High SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2023 47
Carterton Community CollegeCommunity school No grade 33.8
Tudor Grange Academy WorcesterAcademy sponsor led No grade 45.9
The Polesworth SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 42.7
Bristol Free SchoolFree schools No grade 56.3

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.