Campion School

Campion School is a large secondary school in Northampton and part of United Learning Trust. Overall, it is judged to be performing strongly, with safeguarding standards met. Most areas of inspection are at the expected standard, while post-16 provision is a clear strength. The school has a relatively new leadership team that has established a calm, purposeful and inclusive culture, and staff-pupil relationships are positive. The report highlights strong post-16 provision, effective behaviour management, and pastoral support that helps pupils feel valued and confident. Pupils achieve in line with national averages at GCSE, disadvantaged pupils' outcomes have improved though a gap remains, and pupils with SEND make progress from their starting points. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, reading is prioritised, and attendance is improving, particularly for disadvantaged pupils with high absence. Careers education and extracurricular opportunities are also effective. Key areas for development include ensuring all staff use pupil passport information consistently to meet individual needs, embedding the spiritual and cultural elements of personal development so pupils can apply them, and strengthening governance oversight of equality and disadvantaged pupils. There are also inconsistencies in tutor-time delivery and some gaps in pupils' PSHE knowledge. Overall, the school is well placed to improve further.

Strengths

• Strong post-16 provision with ambitious study programmes and above-national-average results
• Calm, welcoming and purposeful school environment with positive staff-pupil relationships
• Effective behaviour policy focused on celebrating positive behaviours
• Strong pastoral support that improves pupils' wellbeing and confidence
• Broad and ambitious curriculum with logically sequenced knowledge and skills
• Reading prioritised effectively, helping pupils catch up and keep up
• Teachers use strong subject knowledge and check understanding effectively
• Pupils with SEND make strong progress from their starting points, including in post-16
• Attendance strategy showing improvements, especially for disadvantaged pupils with high absence
• Effective careers education and preparation for next steps
• Wide range of extracurricular activities with increasing uptake and support for disadvantaged pupils
• Leaders are mindful of staff wellbeing and workload and provide high-quality professional development
• Safeguarding standards met with an open culture of safeguarding

Areas for Improvement

• Disadvantaged pupils remain behind their peers in achievement
• Governance historically has not always challenged leaders' decisions appropriately, leading to weaker oversight of equality and disadvantaged pupils' progress
• Teachers do not always use pupil passport information well enough to fully meet all pupils' needs in lessons
• Inconsistencies in how tutor times deliver the personal development programme
• Some pupils lack knowledge of some parts of the PSHE curriculum
• Pupils' understanding of the spiritual and cultural elements of personal development is limited

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 Campion School attended 91.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 25.2% 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, 6.4% of pupils at Campion School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 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 Campion School had 22.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 29.0% 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, 21.1% of pupils at Campion School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.7% 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 Campion School received £7,446 and spent £7,003 for each of its 1,318 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,178,000 (£894 per pupil).

Across all 93 schools of United Learning Trust, income was £8,687 and spending £8,616 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 Northampton · West Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

Campion School is part of United Learning Trust, which runs 98 schools. The nearest others:

• Northampton Academy Northampton
• Montsaye Academy Kettering
• Hanwell Fields Community School Banbury
• Hill View Primary School Banbury
• Grange Primary Academy Kettering
• Kettering Buccleuch Academy Kettering
• North Oxfordshire Academy Banbury
• George Eliot Academy Nuneaton
• Heath Lane Academy Leicester
• Nuneaton Academy Nuneaton

What is Campion School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Campion School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Campion School last inspected by Ofsted?

Campion School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Campion School have?

Campion School has 1,309 pupils on roll.

What age range does Campion School cover?

Campion School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Campion School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.8, and 46% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Campion School?

Campion School is at Bugbrooke, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN7 3QG.