SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Bedlington, Northumberland

Bedlington Academy

Palace Road, Bedlington, Northumberland, NE22 7DS

Ofsted Good · 2022 Sixth form
School website 01670822625

Ofsted

Goodas at 13 September 2022

Graded Good at its last graded inspection, on 13 September 2022.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

47.4 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

44% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

75% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.2 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

40% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.26confidence interval -0.51 to -0.01

Taking that range into account, pupils made less progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as below average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
B-
Average points per entry
35.4

England average 32.3

A level students
28

Pupils

Pupils on roll
822
Places
850
How full
Nearly full — 822 of 850 places taken
Girls / boys
398 / 424
Overall absence
8%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
23%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
32%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
1%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
2%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
14%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
91%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
76%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
12%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
27%
No sustained destination
5%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
139

After sixth form

Went to university
46%

England 50%

In education, work or training
84%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
11%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
37

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

35% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
79%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
29

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Northumberland 020E, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
22%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
23%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
59%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
19%

England 17%

Households with no car
23%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
42%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy sponsor led
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
NORTH EAST LEARNING TRUST
Headteacher
Headteacher: Joanna Lamb
Local authority
Northumberland
Ward
Sleekburn
Constituency
Blyth and Ashington
URN
144977

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
The Blyth AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 49.2 1.2 mi
St Benet Biscop Catholic AcademyAcademy converter Good 2023 41.3 1.7 mi
Bede AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 48.9 2.2 mi
NCEA Duke's Secondary SchoolAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2023 32 2.7 mi
Ashington AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 47.1 2.8 mi
Cramlington Learning VillageAcademy converter Good 2022 46.7 4.4 mi
Seaton Sluice Middle SchoolCommunity school Good 2023 4.5 mi
Whytrig Middle SchoolCommunity school No grade 4.7 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Thomas More Catholic SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 42.1
Hans Price AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 47.6
Lift KingswoodAcademy sponsor led No grade 55
Wingfield AcademyAcademy converter Good 2022 47
Oakmoor SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 38.7
Sir Thomas Wharton AcademyAcademy converter Good 2021 43.3
Graham SchoolAcademy sponsor led No grade 38.3
Kettering Science AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 37.3

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.