Rushden Primary Academy

About Rushden Primary Academy

Rushden Primary Academy was rated Good in its most recent graded Ofsted inspection in 2018, and an ungraded inspection in February 2024 confirmed the school remains Good. The most telling academic metric for this 4-11 mixed state primary is its Key Stage 2 combined reading, writing and maths at expected standard: 67% of pupils achieved this benchmark in the 2023/24 academic year. That puts the school comfortably above the North Northamptonshire local authority average of 61%, and ranks it 29th out of 90 primary schools in the area — placing it in the top third locally. The school also sits in the top 50% nationally, ranked 5,197 out of 13,686 primaries. While no school in the data hits the highest echelons of the LA's top three (Gretton, Stanion, Broughton), Rushden's results show solid, above-average performance for families prioritising core academic foundations.

Digging deeper into the KS2 results, the school's strongest subject is writing, where 80% of pupils reached the expected standard and 10% achieved a higher standard. Reading and maths both saw 77% at expected, with reading's higher standard at 18% and maths at 17%. Average scaled scores were 104 for reading and 105 for maths — both in line with national expectations. The proportion achieving the higher standard across all three subjects (reading, writing and maths combined) was 8%, which is broadly typical for a Good-rated school. The school's overall ranking score of 67 is based on the KS2 expected standard metric, and its percentile position in the East Midlands region (34th) reinforces that this is a dependable, middle-of-the-road performer rather than an outlier. Ofsted's breakdown shows Good ratings across leadership and management, early years provision, and overall effectiveness, though no specific grades were published for quality of education, personal development, or behaviour and attitudes in the most recent inspection cycle.

Rushden Primary Academy is a popular school: for the 2025/26 intake, it received 102 applications for 59 places, making it oversubscribed with a ratio of 1.73 applicants per place. Of those, 56 were first-preference applications, and 53 first-preference offers were made. The school serves 382 pupils against a capacity of 420, with 11.3% eligible for free school meals — slightly below the national average. Facilities include art studios, a sports hall, a sensory room, playing fields and a library, with sports ranging from swimming and tennis to cross country and athletics. Clubs cover chess, gardening and coding. The school's SEND provisions are notably broad, covering dyslexia, moderate to severe learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. This makes it a strong option for families seeking an inclusive mainstream setting with dedicated support infrastructure, particularly those in the Rushden area of North Northamptonshire.

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