Northampton School for Boys praised by minister in Parliament for 'academic and sporting excellence'

A Northampton school was “thrilled” to be mentioned in Parliament by the schools minister as an example to others for its “academic and sporting excellence”, its headmaster has said.

Nick Gibb MP praised Northampton School for Boys (NSB) in Billing Road for “high levels of academic achievement” and “excellent” sporting curriculum, which is now compulsory for all sixth form students.

Mr Gibb, who was reappointed as schools minister last October, told the House of Commons that NSB also “provides impressive extracurricular sport”. Some 76 clubs meet during the winter and 54 during the summer.

The school’s headmaster Richard Bernard said Mr Gibb’s acknowledgement on Tuesday, January 10 was “testament to an exceptionally talented and driven student body and to an outstanding team of teachers, coaches and support staff who work tirelessly to realise the school’s vision of maximising student potential both academically and in terms of extracurricular activities outside of the classroom”.

A number of the Northampton Saints’ first team squad are former NSB pupils, including Courtney Lawes, the England international. Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka, another former NSB pupil, made his full Premier League debut against Crystal Palace at the weekend. The school was recently recognised by the Sunday Times as the top performing comprehensive school in the East Midlands for its GCSE and A-Level results. It was praised for its “unapologetic academic curriculum” and “relentless ambition”.

“These are truly exciting times for the school and its students, especially with our new NSB Trust Secondary Free School, Northampton School, opening its gates in September 2023,” Mr Bernard said.

The school is currently national champion in under-12s football, under-15s water polo and across various age groups in indoor rowing. Its teams also finished as runners-up in under-14s rugby and were national finalists in basketball, cross country and athletics.

NSB will open a brand new mixed school next year on land just off of Thorpeville in Moulton for 1,200 pupils. The school is being funded by the Government, with no interference from the local authority, thus making it a 'free school'.