Southfield School for Girls

Southfield School for Girls is performing well overall, demonstrating good quality of education and outstanding personal development. Pupils enjoy a safe environment with high expectations, benefitting from strong relationships with their teachers. The school excels in offering a rich enrichment program that promotes resilience and confidence among students. Despite its strengths, there are areas that require improvement, particularly in consistently supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as well as ensuring all students receive timely and constructive feedback on their work.

Strengths

• High expectations and a safe learning environment.
• Strong subject knowledge among teachers, especially in the sixth form.
• Outstanding provision for personal development and enrichment.
• Effective relationships between pupils and staff.
• Good attendance and positive attitudes towards learning.
• Strong governors and trustees with clear vision.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent support for pupils with SEND across the school.
• Lack of quality feedback leading to repeated errors by pupils.

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 Southfield School for Girls attended 91.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 24.2% 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, 5.0% of pupils at Southfield School for Girls were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 5 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 Southfield School for Girls had 16.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.0% 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, 10.4% of pupils at Southfield School for Girls were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has a SEN unit with 4 pupils.

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 Southfield School for Girls received £7,381 and spent £7,706 for each of its 1,197 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,278,000 (£1,068 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Orbis Education Trust, income was £7,577 and spending £7,577 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Kettering · North Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

Southfield School for Girls is part of Orbis Education Trust, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Kingsthorpe College Northampton
• Hunsbury Park Primary School Northampton

What is Southfield School for Girls's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Southfield School for Girls is Good, from an inspection in June 2023.

When was Southfield School for Girls last inspected by Ofsted?

Southfield School for Girls was last inspected in June 2023.

How many pupils does Southfield School for Girls have?

Southfield School for Girls has 1,111 pupils on roll.

What age range does Southfield School for Girls cover?

Southfield School for Girls for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Southfield School for Girls's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.7, and 49% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Southfield School for Girls?

Southfield School for Girls is at Lewis Road, Kettering, Northamptonshire, NN15 6HE.