Guilsborough Academy

Guilsborough Academy has been rated as requiring improvement overall, marking a contrast to its previous inspection grade of good. While the sixth form is performing well, the rest of the school's educational quality, behavior, attitudes, personal development, and leadership have been identified as needing significant improvement. Concerns have been raised regarding the consistency of teaching practices, behavior management, and the handling of bullying, which appears to affect pupils' trust in the school's ability to address their concerns. Despite these challenges, the school boasts an ambitious curriculum and opportunities for personal development, particularly for sixth-form students who report positive experiences.

Strengths

• Offers a well-planned curriculum for personal development.
• Sixth-form teachers provide effective delivery of the curriculum.
• Students in the sixth form exhibit good attitudes to learning and achieve well.
• The school has a clear system for identifying the needs of pupils with SEND.

Areas for Improvement

• Consistency in teaching delivery is lacking, affecting pupil understanding.
• Behaviour management is not uniformly enforced, leading to low-level disruption.
• Some teachers do not effectively adapt curriculum delivery for pupils with SEND.
• Bullying and discriminatory language are reported to be inadequately addressed.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Guilsborough Academy attended 92.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 6.6% of pupils at Guilsborough Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 6 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Guilsborough Academy had 16.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.8% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 10.7% of pupils at Guilsborough Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.1% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Guilsborough Academy received £7,159 and spent £7,222 for each of its 1,260 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,641,000 (£1,302 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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• Secondary Schools

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What is Guilsborough Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Guilsborough Academy is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Guilsborough Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Guilsborough Academy was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Guilsborough Academy have?

Guilsborough Academy has 1,198 pupils on roll.

What age range does Guilsborough Academy cover?

Guilsborough Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Guilsborough Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.6, and 46% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Guilsborough Academy?

Guilsborough Academy is at West Haddon Road, Guilsborough, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN6 8QE.