Ofsted: Good trending_up Popular emoji_events #19 in West Northamptonshire public Top 37% UK

Castle Academy

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMrs Zoe McIntyre

corporate_fareEAST MIDLANDS ACADEMY TRUST

location_onNorthampton, NN1 2TR

language Visit Website phone 1604638679

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2016

groups

Students

449

school

Expected Standard

69%

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Demand Ratio

1.2x

summarize

Castle Academy is a Academy sponsor led primary school in Northampton, serving ages 3-11. Rated Good by Ofsted. Demand is above capacity (1.2×) — apply through your local authority on time. Ranks in the top 37% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

Castle Academy is an academy sponsor led in Northampton, West Northamptonshire, admitting pupils aged 3-11. It is part of EAST MIDLANDS ACADEMY TRUST. The school has approximately 451 pupils on roll, of whom 20% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 69% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 7% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #19 of 135 primaries in West Northamptonshire and #3,102 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2016. The school's current overall rating is Good.

The school is oversubscribed — in the most recent cycle, there were 1.2× as many applications as places, making a successful application competitive.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 23.6:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.7 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

69%

LA 60%

Reading78% LA 75%

Writing81% LA 71%

Maths93% LA 73%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

106

GPS SS

106

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

69%

LA 61%England 61%

Reading76% LA 75% · Eng 74%

Writing76% LA 72% · Eng 72%

Maths78% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Read SS

103

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

105

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

57%

LA 58%England 60%

Reading70% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing73% LA 70% · Eng 71%

Maths71% LA 71% · Eng 73%

Read SS

103

Maths SS

103

GPS SS

103

Progress (0 = national avg)

-1.3

Read

LA -0.1

-3.1 to 0.6

1.0

Write

LA 0.2

-0.7 to 2.8

-0.3

Maths

LA -0.4

-2.0 to 1.4

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

56%

LA 62%England 65%

Reading59% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing78% LA 78% · Eng 78%

Maths82% LA 75% · Eng 79%

Read SS

102

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

106

Progress (0 = national avg)

0.4

Read

LA -0.3

-1.1 to 1.9

4.8

Write

LA -0.2

3.4 to 6.1

2.1

Maths

LA -0.9

0.8 to 3.4

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

74%

LA 62%

Reading80% LA 75%

Writing85% LA 79%

Maths85% LA 72%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

106

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

LA -0.4

0.3 to 3.7

3.8

Write

LA -0.3

2.2 to 5.4

2.8

Maths

LA -0.9

1.3 to 4.3

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

11 January 2022

Inspection Report

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29 November 2016

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

2 Evaluations

2016-11-29

Academy First Section 5 Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

2013-04-25

None Legacy

Inadequate

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Inadequate

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.0%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.0%(0 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 451 pupils. During this period, there were 0 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.0%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	451	0	0.0%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	456	6	1.3%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	470	3	0.6%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	464	1	0.2%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	461	2	0.4%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	472	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	449	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	445	0	0.0%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	461	1	0.2%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	443	1	0.2%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	445	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	451	5	1.1%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	451	1	0.2%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	452	1	0.2%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	493	1	0.2%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	493	2	0.4%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	487	0	0.0%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	521	2	0.4%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	520	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	506	1	0.2%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	508	1	0.2%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	506	1	0.2%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	496	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	515	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	514	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	509	0	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Speech, Language & Communication 25 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 24 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 15 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 12 pupils

Physical Disability 2 pupils

Hearing Impairment 1 pupils