On Friday 29th November, NSB was awarded the prestigious title of 'Secondary School of the Year' at the Northamptonshire Education Awards Evening, held at the County Ground. The judging panel remarked how NSB “was able to quantify and demonstrate phenomenal results and achievements across the whole school curriculum.” Not only did they recognise the historic success at GCSE and A level in the 2024 examinations, they were also delighted that “a range of extra-curricular activities also played a significant part” in the educational opportunities we deliver to students. We are immensely proud of this regional award, especially as it speaks to our whole school vision to ensure that students achieve exceptionally well ‘both in and outside the classroom’.

 

As further testament to our incredible performance at GCSE this year, the Department for Education released their national data set yesterday which places NSB as the ‘Top Performing secondary school for GCSE Progress across the whole of West Northamptonshire’ with an extraordinary score of +0.95. We also secured the Highest Average GCSE grade (6.2) and the highest % of students achieving a Grade 5 or above in English and Maths (79.5%) across all Secondary Comprehensive Schools in the region.

GCSE Progress West Northamptonshire

 

They say the best things come in threes and that is certainly true given the release of The Times and Sunday Times Parent Power Guide 2025 which was published today. Widely acknowledged as a highly authoritative survey of the country’s top schools, the guide went live today and is available in print in a 28-page supplement on Sunday, December 8.

It is with immense pride that we can announce that NSB has secured the title of Comprehensive School of the Year in the East Midlands – the second time we have secured the title in recent years and an incredible celebration of the school’s examination performance on a National stage.

Below is the list of the top 10 Comprehensive Secondary Schools in the East Midlands and the full guide can be accessed here: Sunday Time Best School League

All of these incredible achievements further serve to underscore our rich heritage of sporting, artistic and academic excellence – a heritage that is at the heart of the school’s DNA. To add to our list of honours and plaudits, NSB is the current number 1 ranked UK State School for Competitive Sport as named by the leading industry publication 'School Sport Magazine', having received this honour previously 4 times, and students enjoy similar success in the Expressive Arts and Music with multiple honours and recognition gained over recent years at a national and international level.

Executive Headteacher of the NSB Trust, Richard Bernard stated, ‘We are extremely proud of all staff and students at NSB who have helped secure these wonderful achievements – they are indicative of the outstanding culture and ethos that allows students to reach the very highest level of academic and extra-curricular outcomes at NSB. A huge thanks to everyone in our whole school community who have contributed to this enormous level of success.’