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State secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne

13 schools · North East · 2024/25 Department for Education figures

Newcastle upon Tyne has 13 state secondaries, 11 of them with sixth forms. 79% of families got their first choice last year, worse than most of England. Results run from 21.9% to 68.9% passing English and maths, a spread of 47 points, with a middle school at 51.5%, above England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 1 rated Outstanding, 5 Good, 1 Requires improvement. 6 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

13 schools in Newcastle upon Tyne. Tap one, or see the full list.
22% 69% passed English & maths no figure

Newcastle upon Tyne against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

46%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

in line with England

England 45%

43.9

Attainment 8 average score

2.2 below England

England 46.1

28%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

6.3% above England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Newcastle upon Tyne

79%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

91.4%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

0%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

54%

Appeals upheld71 of 131 heard

These are figures for Newcastle upon Tyne as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works

How much the choice matters here

Across Newcastle upon Tyne's 12 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 22% to 69%. That is a spread of 47 percentage points, about typical.

The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.

Newcastle upon Tyne schools, subject by subject

The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.

mathsenglish literatureenglish languagecombined sciencehistorygeographyartphysicschemistrybiologyspanishfrenchcomputer sciencebusiness studiesreligious studiesphysical educationphotographydesign technology
  1. 1 St Mary's Catholic School Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 111 entries 86%
  2. 2 Gosforth Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 142 entries 82%
  3. 3 Walbottle Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 126 entries 79%
  4. 4 Jesmond Park Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 156 entries 66%
  5. 5 Sacred Heart Catholic High School Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 78 entries 65%
  6. 6 St Cuthbert's High School Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 99 entries 64%
  7. 7 Walker Riverside Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 100 entries 58%
  8. 8 Kenton School Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 155 entries 38%
  9. 9 Excelsior Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 62 entries 37%
  10. 10 Benfield School Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 82 entries 37%
  11. 11 Studio West Newcastle-upon-Tyne · 43 entries 9%
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Every school in Newcastle upon Tyne

Schools in neighbouring authorities are not in this list, because admissions run per authority. See bordering areas.

4 of 13 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

  • Benfield School Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    24%
    Attainment 8
    33.5
    Absence
    36%
  • Callerton Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Good.
    Eng & maths
    —
    Attainment 8
    —
    Absence
    29%
  • Excelsior Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Requires improvement.
    Eng & maths
    24%
    Attainment 8
    33.4
    Absence
    27%
  • Gosforth Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Good. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    63%
    Attainment 8
    54.4
    Absence
    18%
  • Jesmond Park Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Good.
    Eng & maths
    55%
    Attainment 8
    51.4
    Absence
    17%
  • Kenton School Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    40%
    Attainment 8
    38.7
    Absence
    31%
  • North East Futures UTC Newcastle Upon Tyne · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    34%
    Attainment 8
    35.4
    Absence
    40%
  • Sacred Heart Catholic High School Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    54%
    Attainment 8
    52.1
    Absence
    22%
  • St Cuthbert's High School Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Good. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    52%
    Attainment 8
    49
    Absence
    21%
  • St Mary's Catholic School Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Outstanding. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    69%
    Attainment 8
    58.9
    Absence
    18%
  • Studio West Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    28%
    Attainment 8
    30.9
    Absence
    37%
  • Walbottle Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Good.
    Eng & maths
    58%
    Attainment 8
    46.6
    Absence
    29%
  • Walker Riverside Academy Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    22%
    Attainment 8
    35.5
    Absence
    28%

Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.

Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25

A levels in Newcastle upon Tyne

10 of Newcastle upon Tyne's 11 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.

Sixth form Grade AAB+

A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.

Bordering Newcastle upon Tyne

Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.

North Tyneside 11 schools · 43% passed English & mathsNorthumberland 16 schools · 42% passed English & maths

What these mean

Attainment 8
The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
Grades 4 and 5
GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
Persistent absence
The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
First preference
The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
Spare places
The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
Average A-level grade
The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
Covers state-funded schools in England; independent schools are not included, and neither the list nor the subject figures above take account of them.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Key stage 4 performance and school characteristics: Department for Education, 2024/25. Inspection outcomes: Ofsted.