Kettering Science Academy

About Kettering Science Academy

Kettering Science Academy has undergone a notable turnaround since its last inspection. The school was rated Requires Improvement in 2019 across all categories, but in its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 it achieved a Good rating for overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. On the most informative exam metric available, the school’s Progress 8 score stands at -0.2, which places it in the ‘Below average’ banding nationally. This means that, on average, pupils leave with slightly lower attainment than students with similar starting points across England. Within North Northamptonshire, the school ranks 12th out of 20 secondary schools on Progress 8, putting it in the bottom half of the local authority. The local authority average Progress 8 score is -0.02, so Kettering Science Academy sits a little below that benchmark, though it is worth noting that the school serves a significantly above-average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals, at 29.2%.

Looking more closely at the breakdown, the school’s Attainment 8 score is 39.4, and 48% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, while 32.1% achieved a grade 5 or above. The English Baccalaureate average point score is 3.69, with 63.8% of pupils entered for the EBacc combination of subjects. In terms of subject-specific Progress 8 scores, maths is close to the national average at -0.01, but English is weaker at -0.37, and the open element (other EBacc and non-EBacc subjects) is -0.33. At sixth form, the school has 55 pupils and a value-added score of -0.09, which is banded as ‘Average’. The average points per entry is 31.07, equivalent to a grade C, and the best three A-levels average out at a grade C as well. Just 17.4% of entries achieved grades AAB or higher. These results suggest that while the school is making progress from its previous Requires Improvement rating, academic outcomes remain mixed, particularly in English and open subjects.

The school is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 435 applications for 265 places, with 164 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.64. This suggests strong local demand despite the mixed results. Facilities include a library, tennis courts, gymnasium, art studios, astro turf, ICT suite, sixth form centre, playing fields, and a chapel. Sports offered include netball, dance, basketball, cross country, swimming, and martial arts, while clubs range from film club and choir to coding, science club, Duke of Edinburgh, debate, and Young Enterprise. The school has a broad range of SEND provisions, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a large, mixed, non-faith secondary with a sixth form, led by headteacher Jennifer Giovanelli, and it may suit families who value the recent improvement trajectory and the wide range of extracurricular and SEND support, but who are realistic about the current academic performance relative to the local area.

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