Last reviewed: September 2026 · Rankings and key information above update regularly, however, this review below is refreshed bi-annually and may not reflect recent changes. If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
A fresh start, a new registration and an old name. Montsaye Academy reopened on 1 December 2025 as a new United Learning school in Rothwell, on the Greening Road site that local families already know. It is a mixed, non-selective 11 to 18 comprehensive with 1,086 students on roll against a capacity of 1,380, and it runs its own sixth form alongside the Montsaye Community Sports Centre, which shares the campus.
Day-to-day leadership currently sits with the interim principal, Gopal Baria. The school has not yet been inspected by Ofsted since it opened under its new registration. Recent GCSE results sit in the lower fifth of schools in England and A-level grades trail the England average, so this is a school in rebuilding mode, with a clear character programme, strong sports facilities and a small, personal sixth form as its most tangible assets.
Respect, honesty and compassion are the three values the school puts in front of every visitor, and they recur across its admissions material, its sixth-form welcome and its open evening invitation. The stated vision is short and ambitious: "To be a successful school of Character and Excellence." Two strands sit beneath it, that every child feels a deep sense of belonging and that every child excels. The shorthand used across the prospectus, We are Montsaye, is the school's own rallying line.
Character is taught deliberately rather than left to chance. The Education with Character approach runs in three parts. Character Caught celebrates moments of good conduct and shares them with the wider community; Character Taught covers what good character means through the taught curriculum, RSHE, assemblies and tutor time; and Character Sought is the strand that links to clubs and extra-curricular opportunities. Character Days, built around performances, workshops and talks, extend the same themes. For parents, the implication is that personal development has a timetable and a structure, not just a poster on a corridor wall.
Governance changed with the new registration. Montsaye is part of United Learning, a multi-academy trust that acts as the overarching admissions authority, with day-to-day responsibility for admissions resting with the academy's Local Governing Body. The admissions policy sums up the aim in five words: Montsaye seeks to bring out the best in everyone.
Students also carry responsibility. A Student Ambassador scheme covers wellbeing, community, equality, aspiration and resilience roles, and in the sixth form a Head Boy and Head Girl take part in decision-making. That gives older students a visible stake in how the place runs.
Results are the clearest area for improvement. The most recent GCSE cohort of 176 students recorded an average Attainment 8 score of 37.7 and a Progress 8 score of -0.57. Because Progress 8 is centred on zero, a negative figure of that size means students made noticeably less progress from their Year 6 starting points than similar students elsewhere in England. The English Baccalaureate figures are modest too: 5.7% of students achieved grade 5 or above across the EBacc subjects, and the average EBacc point score was 3.25.
In FindMySchool's proprietary rankings, built from official data, Montsaye placed 3,156th of 3,895 in England for GCSE results (top 81.0%), ranked against all schools in England with published GCSE results, state and independent. In practical terms that places the school in the lower fifth of schools in England for GCSE outcomes.
The sixth-form picture is somewhat stronger, though still below the England benchmark. At A-level, 5% of grades were A*, 14% were A* or A and 41% were A* to B. The England averages are 24% at A* to A and 47% at A* to B, so the gap is widest at the top grades and narrower across the A* to B band. On A-level results, Montsaye sits 1,675th of 2,562 in England (top 65.4%).
For a family weighing up the school, these figures matter more than any brochure. They describe the starting point that the new leadership and trust are working from, and the next two or three sets of results will show whether the restart is gaining traction.
England ranks and key metrics (where available)
A-Level A*-B
40.58%
% of students achieving grades A*-B
GCSE
3156th
England rank
Ranking figures update automatically as our data refreshes and are the definitive source. Any rankings quoted in the review text were accurate when it was written and may since have changed.
Years 7 to 9 follow a broad Key Stage 3 curriculum built on a two-week timetable of 50 lessons. English, maths and science each receive eight lessons per fortnight; modern foreign languages, geography, history and PE get four each; design and technology, computer science, ethics and art get two; and music and drama one each. Lessons are spread evenly so that students can reflect on their learning and complete homework before the next session in that subject, and variations to the Key Stage 3 curriculum are made only in exceptional circumstances.
Key Stage 4 keeps an academic core. The EBacc pathway is open to every student and strongly recommended for those making sustained progress in science and French, with Triple Science and Combined Science routes available. Every student takes history or geography. Options include Computer Science, Business, Psychology, Food Preparation and Nutrition, Photography, Dance, Drama, Music and Sports Studies, which gives creative and practical students genuine choice alongside the core.
A new route is on the way. The school is promoting the Montsaye Academic Grammar Stream, advertised as new for 2026, to families of Year 6 children. Details sit in a separate brochure, so parents interested in a more stretching pathway should ask about entry, group sizes and how the stream differs from mainstream classes at the open evening.
Careers education runs from Year 7 to Year 13 as a planned programme built around the Gatsby Benchmarks. Students use Unifrog, a platform for exploring post-GCSE options, apprenticeships, courses and universities independently, and Key Stage 4 students receive individual careers interviews. Mrs Knight, the Careers Lead, holds consultations with students through Years 10 and 11 about their future.
Official destination figures for the 2023 to 2024 leavers cover a cohort of 59 students. Of those, 31% went on to university, 5% started apprenticeships and 51% moved into employment. That is a notably work-focused profile, which fits a sixth form that runs vocational courses alongside A-levels.
The school has reported upbeat news for those aiming at higher education, stating that A-level results enabled every student who wanted to go to university to gain their chosen place. The sixth-form prospectus lists 2025 successes including Psychology at the University of Birmingham, features a former student reading Economics at the University of York, and says alumni have gone on to study subjects including Architecture, Medicine, Law, Engineering, Cyber Security and Astrophysics. Former students also return to talk to current sixth formers about their routes.
Montsaye Sixth Form is small by design. Its prospectus promises smaller than average class sizes and a bespoke Sixth Form Centre with access to the sports and fitness facilities on site. The practical extras are unusually concrete for a state sixth form: a free laptop for the duration of study, free on-site gym membership and free parking for sixth-form students. For families, free parking and a laptop are real savings over two years.
The curriculum mixes A-levels with applied courses. A-level options include Art, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Computer Science, English Language, English Literature, Ethics and Philosophy, French, Geography, History, Maths, PE, Photography, Physics, Product Design, Psychology and Sociology. Vocational qualifications cover dance, music, sport and health and social care, and the Extended Project Qualification is available for those who want to research a topic in depth.
Entry is organised into three pathways based on GCSE results. Pathway 1 is for students with six GCSE grades 7 or above, who can choose three or four subjects. Pathway 2 is for those with six grades 5 or above, who choose three subjects provided they meet individual subject criteria. Pathway 3 applies to students with six grades 4 or above, who must include at least one Level 3 vocational course. Some subjects set their own additional requirements.
Enrichment includes study visits in subjects such as Biology, English and Art, Design and Photography, a Debate Club, Reading Mentors, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, guest speakers and Character Days. The Character programme at this level takes in money management, study skills and healthy living. Sixth formers follow a smart dress code (no jeans, leggings or trainers) and must wear the Sixth Form Lanyard and ID card at all times. Students facing financial barriers can apply to the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund by completing an application form.
Year 7 applications are coordinated by North Northamptonshire Council, not made to the school directly, and must reach the council by the national closing date of 31 October. Offers go out on National Offer Day, 1 March or the first working day after. United Learning is the admissions authority, and the school's Published Admission Number is falling from 240 to 210 from September 2026.
Demand is steady rather than intense. For the 2025 intake there were 171 applications for 162 offers, about 1.06 applications per place, and the school is classed as oversubscribed. First preferences and first-preference offers were in balance, at a ratio of 1.0. Competition is therefore modest, though the reduced admission number could tighten entry if applications hold up.
When there are more applicants than places, children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school are admitted first. Priority then runs in this order: looked after and previously looked after children; children attending one of the school's named feeder schools (Rothwell Junior, Havelock Junior, Loatlands Junior, Rushton Primary and Wilbarston CE Primary); children living in the linked area; children with a sibling at the academy; and then other children. The linked area covers Rothwell, Desborough, Mawsley, Rushton, Wilbarston, Loddington, Lamport and a string of surrounding villages. Within any criterion, straight-line distance from home to school acts as the tiebreaker.
In-year transfers into any year group are handled through the council. For the main Year 7 round, the council keeps an initial waiting list on the school's behalf, and an unsuccessful child's name is added automatically until 31 December; after that, parents must contact the council to keep the child on the list, and do so again at the start of each term. Waiting list positions follow the oversubscription criteria, not the date a family joined. Families refused a place can appeal to an independent panel of three people, arranged by North Northamptonshire Council's admissions team. The Year 6 Open Evening runs on Tuesday 29 September 2026 from 4pm to 7pm, with Principal's Talks at 4.30pm, 5.15pm and 6pm, and the school has run a Year 6 Transition Day in July to help new students meet staff and learn their way around before September.
For the sixth form, the school admits up to 30 students from outside, and its admissions policy sets a total Year 12 group of 100 that includes students moving up from its own Year 11. Applications for September 2026 entry ran from 13 November 2025 to 13 February 2026, with conditional acceptance letters sent in early March, so families should expect a similar winter window for the following year. The 2026 cycle was built around personal contact: Year 11 parent open morning tours in December, a Year 11 parents evening in January, and two applicant breakfasts with the sixth-form team, one before the deadline and one in late March. A sixth-form induction event followed in June, ahead of GCSE results day in August. For a student unsure whether to stay or move to a college, those touchpoints give several chances to ask questions of the staff who will teach them.
Previous Year (2024/25 Entry)
Form tutors are the first link. All staff are trained in safeguarding, and the wellbeing network runs from the form tutor through the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 pastoral offices, the SEND department and outside agencies including Think for the Future, the NHS Mental Health Support Team and counselling services. The school has also signed up to the Education for Wellbeing Programme, in which whole classes take lessons designed to support mental health.
Bullying is addressed openly. Montsaye describes itself as a Telling School with a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, and students can report concerns through the online Sharp System rather than having to approach a member of staff face to face. For a child who finds it hard to speak up, that anonymous route matters.
Special educational needs are led by Mrs Hannah Quinn, Assistant Principal for Inclusion and SENCO, supported by a Deputy SENCO and an SEN Administrator. The approach follows the SEND Code of Practice within an inclusive mainstream model, with staff training as part of it. Families of children with additional needs should ask how support is organised in lessons and what the transition from Year 6 looks like in practice.
Sport has the strongest physical base. The Montsaye Community Sports Centre sits on the school site and gives students access to a four badminton court sports hall with multi-purpose markings, a swimming pool 20 metres long and 7 metres wide, a dance studio and a fitness suite with more than 30 stations. An all-weather 3G pitch installed in March 2025 carries 11v11 football markings alongside 9v9, 7v7 and 5v5 layouts. For a school offering GCSE PE, Sports Studies and a sport course in the sixth form, the facilities give practical teaching somewhere proper to happen.
Performing arts has a clear curriculum route. Dance, Drama and Music all appear as GCSE options, and dance and music continue as vocational courses in the sixth form, with the dance studio giving the subject its own space. Families with a child who performs should ask what productions, showcases or ensembles currently run.
Leadership and service form the third pillar. The Student Ambassador scheme puts students into wellbeing, community, equality, aspiration and resilience roles, and older students volunteer across subject areas and help younger ones. In the sixth form, Reading Mentors support younger readers, the Debate Club sharpens argument, and the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme adds expedition and volunteering experience that reads well on a university or job application.
Food is taken seriously too. The canteen serves breakfast, break-time snacks and hot lunches, holds a Gold Heartbeat Award for healthy food and a five-star food hygiene rating, and has featured as a best practice case study by the School Food Trust.
The school day runs from form time at 8.40am to the end of period five at 3pm, five one-hour lessons in total. Break is from 11.10am to 11.30am and lunch from 1.30pm to 2pm, giving 32.5 hours a week in school. Home-to-school transport is arranged through North Northamptonshire Council's school travel assistance scheme, and the school publishes a bus code of conduct for students using council buses. Students who lose a bus pass pay the council for a replacement, and reception can issue a temporary pass in the meantime. As a state school, Montsaye charges no tuition fees.
Results are weak. A Progress 8 score of -0.57 (zero marks the England average) and a GCSE ranking in the lower fifth of schools in England show that students have not been making the progress their starting points would suggest. Parents should ask what has changed in teaching and curriculum since the December 2025 restart and how the school tracks progress term by term.
There is no inspection of the current school yet. Before this school opened, the predecessor school (URN 137049) was judged Inadequate by Ofsted in November 2023. The new school has no inspection judgement of its own, so parents are relying on the trust's plans, the leadership's direction and their own impressions from a visit rather than an independent verdict.
Leadership is in an interim phase. The school is currently led by an Interim Principal. Families will want to know who will lead Montsaye over the next few years, since stable leadership is usually what turns a restart into sustained improvement.
Bus arrangements were still being finalised. The school's bus page states that it is awaiting final confirmation of the schedule from the council for the year starting September 2026. Families in outlying villages should check routes and eligibility with the council before relying on a place on a bus.
Montsaye Academy is a community comprehensive making a fresh start. Its assets are real and specific: a sports centre with a pool and a new 3G pitch on site, a structured character programme with clear values, careful pastoral routes including an anonymous bullying reporting system, and a small sixth form that offers free laptops, gym membership and parking alongside a mix of A-levels and vocational courses. Priority for local feeder schools and a linked area of surrounding villages makes it the natural choice for many families around Rothwell and Desborough.
It is best suited to local families who want a smaller-feeling sixth form, a child who will make full use of sports facilities, or a student who would benefit from a clear focus on character and a mixed academic and vocational offer. The main caveat is academic: current results sit in the lower reaches of schools in England and the new school has not yet been inspected, so families should visit, ask hard questions about progress, and watch the next set of results closely.
Montsaye Academy has strengths in its sports facilities, character programme, pastoral support and small sixth form, but its academic results are weak. It ranks 3,156th of 3,895 in England for GCSE results and 1,675th of 2,562 for A-level results, with a Progress 8 score of -0.57. It opened under a new registration in December 2025 and has not yet been inspected, so families should judge it on a visit and on how results develop.
Yes, though only slightly. For 2025 entry there were 171 applications for 162 offers, about 1.06 applications per place. The admission number falls from 240 to 210 from September 2026, which may make places a little more competitive. Priority goes to looked after children, then children at named feeder schools, then those in the linked area, then siblings.
GCSE results are weak. The most recent cohort averaged an Attainment 8 score of 37.7 and a Progress 8 score of -0.57, meaning students made less progress than similar students across England. Around 5.7% achieved grade 5 or above across the EBacc subjects. The school ranks 3,156th of 3,895 in England for GCSE results.
Montsaye describes itself as a Telling School with a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, and reported incidents are taken seriously. Students can report bullying through the online Sharp System. Form tutors lead day-to-day pastoral care, backed by Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 pastoral offices, the SEND department and outside mental health services.
Students join on one of three pathways. Six GCSEs at grade 7 or above allow three or four subjects; six at grade 5 or above allow three subjects, subject to course criteria; and six at grade 4 or above require at least one Level 3 vocational course. Some subjects set extra requirements. Applications for September 2026 closed on 13 February 2026, and up to 30 places are available to students from other schools.
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