Wren Spinney School
Wren Spinney School is a special academy in Kettering for boys and girls aged 11 to 18. It has 96 pupils, 16 more than it has places for. About 46 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was outstanding, back in 2024.
Westover Road, Off Westhill Drive, Kettering, NN15 7LB01536 481939wrenspinney.co.ukMr Mike Tebbutt headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 23 April 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Outstanding overall.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 23 February 2022 | Ungraded | School remains Outstanding (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
14 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. That usually means the year group was too small to publish without identifying children.
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, hearing impairment, multi-sensory impairment, profound and multiple learning difficulties, speech, language and communication, severe learning difficulties, visual impairment.
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: Autistic spectrum disorder (41), Severe learning difficulty (26), Specific learning difficulty (11), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (7), language and communications needs (5), Physical disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 96 | 97 | 88 | 87 | 77 | 66 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 45% | 44% | 47% | 43% | 39% | 38% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 35% | 28% | 26% | 23% | 20% | 20% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% | 100% | 99% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 89.2% 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 | 10.9% | 7.9% | 8.6% | 8.1% | 12.2% | 9.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 7.6% | 6.3% | 6.3% | 4.9% | 9.0% | 9.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 3.3% | 1.5% | 2.4% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 0.3% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 27.0% | 30.3% | 29.3% | 25.4% | 29.1% | 27.3% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 9.3 | 5.7 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 9 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers | 2018/19 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 78% | 100% | 100% | 88% |
| Education | 78% | 100% | 100% | 88% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 11% | 0% | 0% | 13% |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Thomas More Catholic Primary School | Academy | 470 m | 216 | Good 2023 | 73 | Compare |
| Hall Meadow Primary School | Academy | 0.6 miles | 208 | Good 2022 | 83 | Compare |
| St Peter's School | Independent | 0.8 miles | 104 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Youth Works Community College | Independent | 0.9 miles | 4 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| St Andrew's Church of England Primary School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 348 | Good 2023 | 56 | Compare |
| Hawthorn Community Primary School | Academy | 0.9 miles | 312 | Good 2023 | 51 | Compare |
| Bishop Stopford School | Academy | 1.1 miles | 1,454 | No overall grade 2025 | 96 | Compare |
| Greenfields Primary School and Nursery | Academy | 1.2 miles | 481 | Outstanding 2020 | 92 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Wren Spinney School a good school?
Wren Spinney School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it outstanding at its last inspection in April 2024.
What is Wren Spinney School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Wren Spinney School outstanding at its last full inspection on 23 April 2024.
How many pupils does Wren Spinney School have?
96 pupils aged 11 to 18 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 80 places, so it is 120% full.
What is attendance like at Wren Spinney School?
Pupils were in school 89.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 27% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Wren Spinney School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism, hearing impairment, multi-sensory impairment, profound and multiple learning difficulties, speech, language and communication, severe learning difficulties, visual impairment. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Wren Spinney School 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
- Westover Road, Off Westhill Drive, Kettering, NN15 7LB
- Telephone
- 01536 481939
- Website
- www.wrenspinney.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Mike Tebbutt
- Type of school
- Special academy (Academy special converter, academies)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-18, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Creating Tomorrow Multi Academy Trust (5 schools)
- Local authority
- North Northamptonshire
- Ward
- St Peter
- Constituency
- Kettering
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2017 (academy converter)
- URN
- 144684 · LAESTAB 9407010 · UKPRN 10064811
- Formerly
- Wren Spinney Community Special 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.