Whickham School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Gateshead
Burnthouse Lane, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE16 5AR
75
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Not judged
Graded 14/01/2025
Application demand
90%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
91.9%
21.1% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,690
Capacity used
Nearly full99%
1,713 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
90%
1st preference success rate
272 of 302 families who put it first got an offer
280
Places offered
661
Total applications
2.4
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 302 | 272 | ● 90% |
| 2nd preference | 238 | 8 | ● 3% |
| 3rd preference | 121 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 661 | 280 | 42% |
1st preference success by year
Gateshead lets families list 3 preferences. 86 applications came from outside the council area (26 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Fraser Turnbull
- Address
- Burnthouse Lane, Whickham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE16 5AR
- Phone
- 01914960026
- Local authority
- Gateshead
- Ward / constituency
- Whickham North & Swalwell · Gateshead Central and Whickham
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 137360
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 21% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 7% | — | — |
| SEN support | 14% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: WHICKHAM SCHOOL AND SPORTS COLLEGE
1,690 pupils · 1,713 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 25
14 January 2025
Full graded inspection
Not judged overall effectivenessSixth form Good Personal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good - 23
18 May 2023
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,418 pupils
Attendance
91.9%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.1%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
21.1%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.7%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
4.8%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 52.4 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.26 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 56% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 76% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.82 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 34.41 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 53 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 60% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 81.1% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 56.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.79 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 265 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 35.89 | 35 |
| Average grade | B- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 19.1% | 17% |
| A-level students | 129 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 265 | 28% | 67% | 87% | |
| English Language | 265 | 27% | 68% | 80% | |
| English Literature | 263 | 20% | 59% | 76% | |
| Combined Science | 172 | 10% | 45% | 67% | |
| Geography | 164 | 20% | 58% | 71% | |
| History | 106 | 47% | 67% | 75% | |
| German | 86 | 27% | 62% | 85% | |
| Biology | 86 | 38% | 76% | 95% | |
| Physics | 86 | 36% | 77% | 88% | |
| Chemistry | 86 | 35% | 73% | 91% | |
| Art and Design | 72 | 19% | 78% | 92% | |
| French | 67 | 10% | 70% | 76% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 33 | 3% | 12% | 36% | |
| Mathematics | 33 | 15% | 45% | 67% | |
| Business Studies | 29 | 7% | 45% | 79% | |
| History | 24 | 4% | 29% | 67% | |
| English Language | 24 | 0% | 4% | 46% | |
| Biology | 20 | 5% | 25% | 65% | |
| Chemistry | 19 | 5% | 37% | 68% | |
| Sociology | 18 | 6% | 17% | 44% | |
| Design and Technology (Product Design) | 16 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Physics | 15 | 13% | 33% | 53% | |
| Geography | 15 | 0% | 20% | 80% | |
| English Literature | 15 | 0% | 20% | 40% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 12440: Whickham School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 54% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 12% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 55% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Gateshead council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.