Wollaston School Review 2026: Values-led secondary with a broad catchment and a growing sixth form

Kindness, community and ambition are not just headline words here, they are used as the organising principles for student leadership, behaviour expectations and sixth form culture. The school serves a mix of village and town communities around Wollaston and Wellingborough, with a clear admissions priority for a defined group of local villages and a published admission number of 240 for the main Year 7 intake.

Wollaston is part of The Nene Valley Partnership multi-academy trust and sits within a relatively compact trust footprint, which can help keep school improvement and governance close to the community it serves.

Academically, the picture is steady rather than headline-grabbing. GCSE outcomes sit broadly in line with the middle group of schools in England, while A-level outcomes sit below England averages on the available grade profile. The sixth form remains an important pathway choice locally because it combines academic and vocational routes, and it offers a clear “meet the requirements and you are accepted” message for applicants who fit the entry criteria.

Wollaston positions itself as a community school in the fullest sense, drawing students from both rural villages and nearby urban areas, and using its house structure to give a smaller-school feel inside a larger roll. Houses are named Austen, Churchill, Drake and Nightingale, and the system is intended to build belonging alongside inter-house competition and recognition.

Leadership is structured around a Head of School model, with Mr Simon Anderson named as Head of School, alongside an Executive Headteacher and CEO role at trust level. This arrangement can suit families who want a clearly defined school leader on site, plus a trust layer focused on strategy and school improvement.

The tone described in external evidence is largely calm and purposeful: expectations are clear, relationships between staff and students are positive, and there is an emphasis on inclusion and respectful conduct. A practical point worth noting is that the school uses alternative provision placements for a small number of students, which is typical of schools serving a broad ability range and can help keep students engaged when a mainstream timetable is not the best fit.

The latest Ofsted inspection (16 May 2023) judged Wollaston School Good overall, with Good judgements across quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth form provision.

At GCSE level, the school’s Attainment 8 score is 45.8, and Progress 8 is 0.0, indicating progress broadly in line with national expectations from students’ starting points.

In the FindMySchool rankings (based on official data), Wollaston ranks 2,426th in England for GCSE outcomes and 3rd in Wellingborough, placing performance broadly in line with the middle group of schools in England (25th to 60th percentile).

A-level outcomes, on the available grade profile, show 4.38% of entries at A*, 13.47% at A, 19.19% at B, and 37.04% at A* to B. Against the England average benchmarks that A* to B figure is below the England average (0.472).

For A-levels, the FindMySchool ranking places Wollaston 1,731st in England and 4th in Wellingborough, which corresponds to below-England-average performance (bottom 40%) on this specific measure.

What this means in practice is that Wollaston looks best described as a school with stable, broadly average GCSE outcomes and a sixth form where outcomes are more mixed. For families, the key question is less “Is this a high-attaining sixth form?” and more “Is this the right local sixth form pathway, with the right subject mix and support, for my child’s profile and goals?”

Curriculum breadth is a stated priority and is reflected in how the school describes its subject offer across core and non-core areas, alongside enrichment that sits outside exam specifications.

External evidence also points to a clear emphasis on sequencing and revisiting knowledge, plus an approach to assessment that uses retrieval, questioning and low-stakes checks. The main improvement focus identified is consistency: ensuring that formative assessment reliably spots misconceptions, and that expectations for the standard of work remain high in all subjects.

Reading and literacy are framed as whole-school priorities, with an explicit focus on vocabulary development and ensuring that students who need additional support with fluency or accuracy receive it. This can matter for parents because secondary success is often limited by literacy gaps rather than subject content alone.

In sixth form, the school is explicit that study demands increase materially, and that students are expected to manage independent work, use private study time well, and model the school’s standards for younger year groups.

Because Wollaston does not publish a Russell Group destination percentage or an Oxbridge total on its website in a way that is easily verifiable from official pages, the clearest evidence-led picture comes from the available destinations and Oxbridge data.

For the 2023/24 leavers cohort (cohort size 100), 47% progressed to university, 6% to apprenticeships, 33% into employment, and 1% into further education.

Oxbridge numbers are small but present. In the measured period, three students applied to Cambridge, and one student secured a place. For a non-selective local sixth form, even small numbers can indicate that high academic aspiration is supported when students have the profile and guidance to pursue it.

The sixth form messaging also stresses preparation for a range of next steps, including employment, training and higher education, which is consistent with a mixed academic and vocational offer.

Year 7 entry

Year 7 admissions are coordinated by North Northamptonshire Council, not directly by the school, and the published admission number is 240.

Oversubscription priorities are clearly laid out. After children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school and looked-after children, priority includes children attending schools within The Nene Valley Partnership, then children living in designated villages (a published list including, among others, Wollaston, Irchester, Grendon, Cogenhoe, Bozeat, Yardley Hastings and others), then siblings, then contributory primary schools, then children of staff in defined circumstances.

For September 2026 entry, the council’s published timeline states that applications open on 10 September 2025, close on 31 October 2025, and offers are issued on 2 March 2026 (National Offer Day timing).

Sixth form entry

Sixth form applications are made directly to the school. The school states that applicants who meet the entry requirements are accepted, and it provides separate internal and external application routes for September 2026 entry.

The sixth form is clear about behavioural and study expectations, and it describes both academic and vocational pathways.

For families managing the complexity of multiple options, FindMySchool’s Map Search can help you sanity-check travel time and practical feasibility across shortlisted sixth forms, especially if you are weighing school sixth form versus a further education college.

Pastoral support is framed as a core pillar, with a clearly organised structure of heads of year, student support roles and leadership oversight of behaviour, safeguarding and inclusion.

The school describes punctuality expectations plainly, including a gate-locking approach after the start of the day, which will suit families who value clear routines.

Ofsted confirmed that safeguarding arrangements are effective and described a strong safeguarding culture, with staff training and record-keeping supporting timely help for students who need it.

Wollaston’s enrichment offer is presented as “every student should have the opportunity to attend at least one school trip” across their time at the school, and it highlights both local and further-afield opportunities.

For students who like structured leadership roles, there are named ambassador pathways, including Kindness and Wellbeing Ambassadors and STEAM Ambassadors, which connect student voice to projects around student experience, community activity, and innovation-focused events.

Clubs mentioned in official inspection evidence include a coding club, a fantasy role-playing game club, and a book club, alongside sports clubs. These are useful signals because they indicate provision that goes beyond the standard sports-only menu and can help quieter students find their people.

In performing arts, the school points to full-scale productions, including The Addams Family (2025), and describes a programme spanning drama, dance and music.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is also part of the wider offer, with clear signposting of the age thresholds for Bronze, Silver and Gold participation.

The school day is structured around an 8:30am tutorial start, with six periods and a 3:00pm end to the teaching day.

Transport is a significant practical consideration for a school serving multiple villages. The school explains that council bus passes are issued annually for Years 7 to 11 for eligible students, and that post-16 students typically need to purchase a pass annually at £795, with the application process normally ending in May of the preceding academic year. Replacement passes are listed at £25.

• Sixth form outcomes are mixed. The available A-level grade profile sits below England averages on the A* to B benchmark, so students aiming for very high academic outcomes may want to compare subject-by-subject support and course fit with other local options.

• A broad catchment can mean complicated logistics. Travel planning matters, particularly for post-16 where the annual bus pass cost is material, and late applications may leave students without transport until October processing.

• SEND adaptation is an improvement priority. Evidence points to ambition for students with SEND alongside a recognised need for greater consistency in adapting curriculum delivery. Families should probe how support is delivered day-to-day for specific needs.

• Oversubscription priorities are specific. If you are outside the designated villages or without priority categories, you should read the oversubscription criteria carefully and make realistic contingency choices on the local authority form.

Wollaston School is a values-led local secondary with a clear community footprint and a sixth form that keeps options open through both academic and vocational routes. GCSE outcomes are broadly typical for England, and the school offers a structured day, a visible house system, and credible student leadership pathways.

It suits families who want a mainstream, mixed secondary with clear routines, an established local catchment, and a sixth form that prioritises accessibility and breadth over selectivity. Securing the right fit hinges on admissions priority, transport practicality, and whether the sixth form subject mix aligns with your child’s goals.