Ofsted: Requires improvement trending_up Places Available emoji_events #65 in West Northamptonshire public Top 67% UK

The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School

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

personMrs Carmel Dodds

corporate_fareOUR LADY IMMACULATE CATHOLIC ACADEMIES TRUST LTD

location_onNorthampton, NN2 7BH

language Visit Website phone 1604714399

verified

Ofsted

Requires improvement

Inspected 2025

groups

Students

296

school

Expected Standard

57%

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Demand Ratio

0.9x

summarize

The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is a Academy converter primary school in Northampton, serving ages 3-11. Currently Requires Improvement according to Ofsted — the school is working to raise standards. Ranks in the top 67% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

The Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School is an academy converter in Northampton, West Northamptonshire, admitting pupils aged 3-11. It is part of OUR LADY IMMACULATE CATHOLIC ACADEMIES TRUST LTD. The school has approximately 272 pupils on roll, of whom 20% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 57% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 7% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #65 of 135 primaries in West Northamptonshire and #7,923 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2025. The school's current overall rating is Requires improvement. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Good, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Good.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 0.9× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 30.9:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.4 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

57%

LA 60%

Reading77% LA 75%

Writing70% LA 71%

Maths70% LA 73%

Read SS

104

Maths SS

103

GPS SS

105

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

59%

LA 61%England 61%

Reading72% LA 75% · Eng 74%

Writing63% LA 72% · Eng 72%

Maths61% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Read SS

104

Maths SS

102

GPS SS

107

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

50%

LA 58%England 60%

Reading65% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing65% LA 70% · Eng 71%

Maths71% LA 71% · Eng 73%

Read SS

103

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

106

Progress (0 = national avg)

-2.8

Read

LA -0.1

-4.9 to -0.6

-0.8

Write

LA 0.2

-2.9 to 1.3

-0.9

Maths

LA -0.4

-2.9 to 1.1

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

53%

LA 62%England 65%

Reading65% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing79% LA 78% · Eng 78%

Maths61% LA 75% · Eng 79%

Read SS

102

Maths SS

102

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

-0.6

Read

LA -0.3

-2.3 to 1.2

0.5

Write

LA -0.2

-1.1 to 2.1

-1.5

Maths

LA -0.9

-3.1 to 0.0

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

50%

LA 62%

Reading62% LA 75%

Writing81% LA 79%

Maths56% LA 72%

Read SS

103

Maths SS

101

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

-0.1

Read

LA -0.4

-1.9 to 1.7

-1.1

Write

LA -0.3

-2.8 to 0.6

-1.5

Maths

LA -0.9

-3.1 to 0.1

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

04 March 2025

Inspection Report

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22 November 2023

Inspection Report

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29 June 2022

Inspection Report

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16 October 2018

Inspection Report

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07 April 2016

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

4 Evaluations

2025-03-04

Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 2 EIF

Not Judged

info

Why no overall grade?

From autumn 2024, Ofsted stopped issuing a single headline grade (Outstanding / Good / RI / Inadequate). Instead, each inspection area is graded individually. This follows a major review after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023. The overall effectiveness field is left as "Not judged" in the published data.

Education

Good

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Good

2022-06-29

Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 1 EIF

Requires improvement

Education

Requires improvement

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Requires improvement

2018-10-16

S5 Inspection Legacy

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

2015-10-13

None Legacy

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

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

0.4%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

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

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.4%(1 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 272 pupils. During this period, there were 1 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.4%, 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)	272	1	0.4%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	267	1	0.4%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	289	3	1.0%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	291	2	0.7%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	283	0	0.0%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	306	7	2.3%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	296	4	1.4%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	285	5	1.8%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	309	2	0.6%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	293	3	1.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	289	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	322	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	322	0	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	320	1	0.3%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	357	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	357	2	0.6%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	349	7	2.0%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	370	0	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	372	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	366	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	388	1	0.3%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	388	0	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	384	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	411	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	406	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	391	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 11 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 10 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 4 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 4 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 2 pupils

Physical Disability 2 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 1 pupils