Sir Jonathan North Girls' College

Sir Jonathan North Girls’ College is a highly effective school where pupils thrive. Inspectors found exceptional provision across all areas, with pupils achieving excellent academic outcomes and developing into confident, well-rounded individuals. The school’s curriculum is intelligently designed and ambitious, reflecting pupils’ interests and cultures while broadening their horizons. Disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve highly. Teachers are subject experts who rigorously check understanding and address misconceptions promptly, and a strong culture of independent learning is underpinned by a focus on reading. Pupils consistently produce work of exceptionally high quality and demonstrate resilience, respectfulness, reflectiveness and resourcefulness. The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development is exceptional. Pupils have plenty of opportunities to develop talents and interests, and the school ensures all pupils can participate, including through carefully designed alternatives for those unable to attend clubs. Pupils are incredibly well prepared for their next steps, receiving effective careers information and guidance. They contribute to the school and wider community, for example through sports leadership, culture days and a local food bank. Staff are proud to work at the school and benefit from well-designed training and consideration of their workload and well-being. The school and trust work together effectively to identify areas for development and improve provision. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The school is part of the Lionheart Educational Trust and has a new executive and associate principal in post since August 2024. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. No areas for improvement were identified.

Strengths

• Intelligently designed and ambitious curriculum that reflects pupils’ interests and cultures
• Exceptionally high quality of pupils’ work and sophisticated subject understanding
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND achieve highly
• Teachers are subject experts who rigorously check understanding and address misconceptions
• Strong culture of independent learning with a central focus on reading
• Pupils demonstrate resilience, respectfulness, reflectiveness and resourcefulness
• Exceptional personal development provision with wide opportunities for talents and interests
• Pupils are incredibly well prepared for their next steps through careers information and guidance
• Effective collaboration between school and trust to identify and address areas for development
• Staff are proud to work at the school and benefit from well-designed training and consideration of workload and well-being
• Pupils develop strong and trusting relationships with teachers
• School council projects leave a lasting legacy and pupils engage with positive female role models
• Pupils become sports leaders and contribute to the local community
• Personalised support helps pupils become more confident and fluent readers
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

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 Sir Jonathan North Girls' College attended 91.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.1% 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, 5.7% of pupils at Sir Jonathan North Girls' College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Sir Jonathan North Girls' College had 17.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.6% 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, 12.3% of pupils at Sir Jonathan North Girls' College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.5% 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 Sir Jonathan North Girls' College received £7,808 and spent £7,680 for each of its 1,152 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,761,000 (£1,529 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of Lionheart Educational Trust, income was £7,656 and spending £7,419 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 Leicester · Leicester local authority: places and applications

Sir Jonathan North Girls' College is part of Lionheart Educational Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Beauchamp City Sixth Form Leicester
• Brocks Hill Primary School Leicester
• Beauchamp College Leicester
• Judgemeadow Community College Leicester
• Riverside Community Primary School Birstall Leicester
• Highcliffe Primary School and Community Centre Leicester
• The Cedars Academy Leicester
• Hallam Fields, Birstall Leicester
• The Martin High School Anstey Leicester
• Humphrey Perkins School Loughborough

What is Sir Jonathan North Girls' College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sir Jonathan North Girls' College is Outstanding, from an inspection in February 2025.

When was Sir Jonathan North Girls' College last inspected by Ofsted?

Sir Jonathan North Girls' College was last inspected in February 2025.

How many pupils does Sir Jonathan North Girls' College have?

Sir Jonathan North Girls' College has 1,115 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sir Jonathan North Girls' College cover?

Sir Jonathan North Girls' College for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Sir Jonathan North Girls' College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 52.9, and 58% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Sir Jonathan North Girls' College?

Sir Jonathan North Girls' College is at Knighton Lane East, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE2 6FU.