School Chooser

Kings Heath Primary Academy

Primary · ages 2-11MixedAcademy350 pupilsNurseryNorthamptonWest Northamptonshire
School Chooser Score
78
Above
similar schools
Likely range 61 to 88
Out of 100. Better than 78% of the 50 schools most like it. Slipping year on year.
OfstedOutstandingLast Ofsted inspection, January 2024
Reached the expected level at 1171%England 63%
Attendance94.4%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families31%A bit more than most schools
Places96 spare350 pupils, 446 places
Pupils per teacher25.1School workforce census

Kings Heath Primary Academy is a sponsored academy in Northampton for boys and girls aged 2 to 11. It has 350 pupils and room for 446. About 31 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit more than at most schools. We give it 78 out of 100. That puts it above schools like it, ahead of 78% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2024.

North Oval, Kings Heath, Northampton, NN5 7LN01604 751165kingsheathacademy.co.ukMiss Sarah Durbin headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 30 January 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Outstanding overall.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Outstanding
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Outstanding
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Outstanding
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Outstanding
Early years
Outstanding
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes
Earlier inspections (1)
DateTypeOutcome
26 April 2023UngradedSchool remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

52 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1171%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level8%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score106.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score104.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 66%66%20172018: 80%80%20182019: 62%62%20192023: 76%76%20232024: 62%62%20242025: 71%71%2025
Since 2017: +5%Declining overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017West NorthamptonshireEngland
Pupils tested523749555950
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths71%62%76%62%80%66%62%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths8%3%6%7%10%4%8%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score106.0105.0108.0102.0107.0104.0105.8105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score104.0104.0107.0104.0106.0104.0104.7104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score103.0102.0108.0105.0106.0104.0104.9105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard77%73%90%64%92%78%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard83%76%82%73%86%84%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)81%76%78%82%81%72%
Reading progressReading progress score+1.2+1.7+5.5+2.8
Maths progressMaths progress score+0.7+2.6+5.0+1.9
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged58%64%73%54%84%67%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged79%61%78%68%75%65%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 1 of the 4 gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
58%79%
Gap 21 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
65%77%
Gap 12 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Pupils learning English vs all pupils
82%71%
Gap 11 ptsEngland 4 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
5%8%
Gap 3 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Plenty of spare places312 pupils for 420 places, 2024/25
74% full

108 places were empty (26% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have grown by 6% since 2021/22.

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 West Northamptonshire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll350Census January 2026
Places44678% full
Pupils from low-income families27%31% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English48%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support14%50 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan4%15 pupils with a plan
Average class size20.513 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)29%£124,000 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls182 / 168
White British pupils34%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 18.4 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 21.8 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (40), emotional and mental health (9), Autistic spectrum disorder (7), Other difficulty or disability (4), Moderate learning difficulty (3), Specific learning difficulty (2).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll350373347351359372
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals27%23%25%27%30%33%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language48%49%49%40%37%32%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support17%15%18%12%8%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans4%3%3%2%1%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.4% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance94.4%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school16.9%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils1.92024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.7%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence5.7%5.8%5.8%5.7%3.8%5.1%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.9%3.5%4.3%3.8%2.8%3.1%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.7%2.2%1.6%1.9%1.0%2.0%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence16.9%18.0%18.6%15.7%9.8%12.9%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate1.90.95.76.75.9
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers12.7full-time equivalent, 14 people
Pupils per teacher25.1Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants9.0full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£41,891
Teachers who left in the year15%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher4.62024/25

Money

From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£6,303England £7,128. Total £2.1m
Income per pupil£7,229England £7,587. Total £2.5m
Spent on teachers per pupil£2,915England £3,405
Money in reserve11%A healthy amount put by: £267k, £784 per pupil. England 9%
Money in against money out+£315kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£6,303spent per pupil

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

Crimes within 500 m43512 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate114 per 1,000 people25% higher than the England average
Typical house price£300,000West Northamptonshire
Nearest bus stop120 mWitham Green, 13 stops within 500 m

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 primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolAcademy430 m160Good 202443Compare
Earl Spencer Primary SchoolCouncil0.6 miles352No overall grade 202515Compare
Chiltern Primary SchoolCouncil0.7 miles133Good 202419Compare
Kingsthorpe Village Primary SchoolCouncil0.8 miles202Report card 202639Compare
Hopping Hill Primary SchoolCouncil0.9 miles423No overall grade 202421Compare
Lyncrest Primary SchoolCouncil0.9 miles228Good 202234Compare
St James Church of England Primary SchoolAcademy1.0 miles445Report card 202663Compare
Kingsthorpe Grove Primary SchoolCouncil1.1 miles471Good 202313Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Kings Heath Primary Academy with the 49 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats78%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the top quarter of its group. Its score of 78 is 32 points above the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 0 · middle 46 · highest 98100

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 78 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 78% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 61 to 88. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%in line
+0.03
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 52 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%well above
+0.43
Ofsted grade, 2.6 years old
Progress pupils make20%in line
+0.02
DfE progress measure; 52 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%below
-0.08
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%below
-0.04
2024/25; 302 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%in line
+0.03
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 52 pupils
What parents say0%no data

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is Kings Heath Primary Academy a good school?

Yes, going by the figures. Kings Heath Primary Academy scores 78 out of 100. That is above schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 78% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 61 to 88, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much. Its results have been slipping over the last five years.

What is Kings Heath Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Kings Heath Primary Academy outstanding at its last full inspection on 30 January 2024.

How good are Kings Heath Primary Academy's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 71% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 8% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Kings Heath Primary Academy have?

350 pupils aged 2 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 446 places, so it is 78% full.

Is Kings Heath Primary Academy oversubscribed?

Probably not. 108 places were empty in 2024/25 (26% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Kings Heath Primary Academy?

Pupils were in school 94.4% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 17% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Kings Heath Primary Academy?

The average class had 20.5 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
North Oval, Kings Heath, Northampton, NN5 7LN
Telephone
01604 751165
Website
www.kingsheathacademy.co.uk
Headteacher
Miss Sarah Durbin
Type of school
Sponsored academy (Academy sponsor led, academies)
Phase
Primary school, ages 2-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Multi-academy trust
The David Ross Education Trust (36 schools)
Local authority
West Northamptonshire
Ward
Dallington Spencer
Constituency
Northampton North
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 February 2014 (new provision)
URN
140414 · LAESTAB 9412153 · UKPRN 10044192
Formerly
Kings Heath Primary School

Where these figures come from