Friars Academy
Friars Academy is a special academy in Wellingborough for boys and girls aged 11 to 18. It has 149 pupils and room for 154. About 49 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England.
Friars Close, Wellingborough, NN8 2LA01933 304950friarsacademy.orgMrs Rachel Stockham headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
30 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | North Northamptonshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 30 | 30 | 26 | 28 | 31 | 24 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | – | – | – | 0.4 | – | 0.8 | 44.0 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | – | – | -2.10 | – | -1.93 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | – | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 39% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | – | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 60% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | – | – | – | 0.03 | – | 0.06 | 3.91 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | – | – | – | 0% | – | 0% | 38% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | – | – | – | 0.0 | – | 0.6 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | – | – | – | 0.7 | – | 1.0 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | – | – | 0.0 | – | 0.8 | – | – |
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to North Northamptonshire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with autism.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in North Northamptonshire with autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Moderate learning difficulty (36), Severe learning difficulty (33), language and communications needs (28), Autistic spectrum disorder (20), emotional and mental health (14), Specific learning difficulty (7).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 149 | 143 | 151 | 148 | 148 | 150 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 48% | 48% | 45% | 43% | 39% | 37% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 14% | 10% | 9% | 7% | 6% | 7% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 2% | 2% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 98% | 98% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 91.4% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 8.6% | 9.1% | 8.1% | 8.5% | 22.5% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 5.4% | 6.2% | 5.8% | 5.1% | 20.2% | 4.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 3.2% | 3.0% | 2.3% | 3.4% | 2.3% | 2.3% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 26.1% | 25.2% | 22.0% | 21.4% | 85.7% | 20.8% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 9.1 | 4.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 26 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 92% | 89% | 88% | 90% |
| Education | 92% | 89% | 88% | 90% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 8% | 4% | 6% | 10% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrenn School | Academy | 410 m | 1,537 | Good 2023 | 39 | Compare |
| Wellingborough School | Independent | 470 m | 699 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| St Barnabas Church of England School | Academy | 670 m | 170 | Good 2023 | 32 | Compare |
| Croyland Nursery School & Day Nursery | Local authority nursery school | 680 m | 108 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Refocus | Independent | 680 m | 63 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| All Saints CEVA Primary School and Nursery | Church of England | 700 m | 242 | Good 2022 | 76 | Compare |
| Croyland Primary School | Council | 710 m | 414 | Good 2021 | 15 | Compare |
| Park Junior School, Wellingborough | Academy | 800 m | 237 | Not inspected | 30 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Friars Academy a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score Friars Academy yet.
How many pupils does Friars Academy have?
149 pupils aged 11 to 18 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 154 places, so it is 97% full.
What is attendance like at Friars Academy?
Pupils were in school 91.4% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 26% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Friars Academy have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Friars Academy have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Friars Close, Wellingborough, NN8 2LA
- Telephone
- 01933 304950
- Website
- www.friarsacademy.org
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rachel Stockham
- Type of school
- Special academy (Academy special converter, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-18, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Multi-academy trust
- Better Together Learning Trust (2 schools)
- Local authority
- North Northamptonshire
- Ward
- Croyland & Swanspool
- Constituency
- Wellingborough and Rushden
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 November 2013 (academy converter)
- URN
- 140277 · LAESTAB 9407029 · UKPRN 10043920
- Formerly
- Friars School
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.