Northallerton School & Sixth Form College, Northallerton

Ofsted's report card from its 24 March 2026 inspection grades Northallerton School & Sixth Form College on 7 areas: 6 expected standard and 1 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Attendance at the school, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who are disadvantaged, is improving over time."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "A new curriculum across all areas of the school has been recently introduced."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders quickly and accurately identify any pupils who may have additional needs."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "The school has experienced a number of changes in leadership in the past few years."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Leaders have recently redesigned the school's plans for the personal development of pupils."

Post 16 provision - Expected standard. "Leaders have developed a suitable and well planned post-16 study programme."

Achievement - Needs attention. "Historically pupils have not achieved well at the end of key stage 4."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that actions to raise pupils' achievement are robustly embedded, so that pupils are well-prepared and this is reflected in their attainment and progress in national tests at the end of key stage 4"; "Leaders should ensure that the teaching of the revised curriculum is of a consistently high quality across subjects and year groups, so that pupils make strong progress as they move through the school"; "Leaders should make sure their work to improve the attendance of groups and individuals is carefully sustained, so that pupil attendance continues to positively increase".

In its own words: "Northallerton School & Sixth Form College is proud to be part of the Areté Learning Trust. Together, we share one clear aspiration: for every child to be the best they can be. As a school and as a Trust, we are united in our commitment to Striving for Excellence ."

From the headteacher's welcome: "It is a privilege to welcome you to Northallerton School & Sixth Form College. As Headteacher, I am proud to lead a school in such a beautiful town and its surrounding villages - a community rich in character, ambition, and potential. Our school is driven by high expectations and a shared commitment to delivering exceptional education for every student."

In 2026, pupils at Northallerton School & Sixth Form College averaged an Attainment 8 score of 37.9, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 47.2 in North Yorkshire and 47 across England.

26% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 48% in North Yorkshire and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 37.5.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.76: pupils made well below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 27, against 43 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 16 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, History and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 169 families put Northallerton School & Sixth Form College as their first choice and 231 named it as one of their preferences, for 190 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 1 family who put it first was not offered a place there.

Northallerton School & Sixth Form College is one of 11 schools run by Areté Learning Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 43.2 in 2024/25.

256 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Northallerton School & Sixth Form College (as of April 2026): 68% would recommend the school, 69% say their child is happy there and 41% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (71%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (41%).

Of the 185 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 75% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 40% to a further education college, 9% to an apprenticeship and 7% into work.

Of the 70 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 36% went on to university or other higher education, 13% to apprenticeships and 29% into work. 8% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

6.9% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 192 pupils (19.2%) received SEN support and 29 (2.9%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

The nearest railway station is Northallerton Rail Station, about 780 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).

8 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Northallerton College (sw-bound), 60 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 116 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in North Yorkshire (9), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Northallerton School & Sixth Form College issued 980 suspensions, 94.5 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 10 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Northallerton School & Sixth Form College are Mill Hill Primary School (under 0.1 miles), Applegarth Primary School (0.4 miles), Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School - a Catholic voluntary academy (0.5 miles) and Broomfield School (0.5 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.