Dryden School

Exam results

Special schools serve pupils whose needs the standard measures were not designed to describe, so results are not shown or ranked here.

Evidence found

No phase-compatible comparable headline measure is published here.

Source coverage

DfE 2024/25 school performance files, checked by exact URN and establishment type.

What this means

The standard mainstream measure would not support a fair comparison for this establishment.

What this does not mean

The school achieved zero, has no outcomes, or should be read as performing below a mainstream school.

Pupils

Pupils on roll

77

Girls / boys

26 / 51

Overall absence

9%

England 5.8%

Persistently absent

25%

England 14.7% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years

48%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language

14%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan

99%

England 3.5%

On SEN support

1%

England 15%

School funding 2025-26 financial year

Not covered by this mainstream-school release.

Evidence found

Not covered by this mainstream-school release; this is not represented as £0.

Source coverage

DfE mainstream-school allocations for running costs for pupils aged 5-16, importer snapshot 23 August 2026.

What this means

The official mainstream allocation release does not provide a publishable row for this establishment.

What this does not mean

The school received no public funding or has no budget; other establishment types and funding streams use different publications.

Allocation is not expenditure. DfE says this release combines the schools block with several other revenue grants and excludes capital spending. Funding is shown for context and is never used in School Facts ordering, peer groups or quality claims. Source, licence and coverage.

Roads and getting there

Traffic volume is the context the collision count needs: a school beside a major road will record more collisions than one on a quiet street without being any less well run.

Every collision reported to the police within 500m of the school over the five years to 2024, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe — counts rise with traffic and with how built up an area is, and a rural school on a fast road may have fewer collisions but a worse one. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position.

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training

100%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education

100%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship

0%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form

0%

No sustained destination

0%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort

8

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

The area around the school

Indices of Deprivation 2019, for the small area the school stands in. 1 means the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. The second measure counts only children living in low-income families, which is the one that describes the intake a school is likely to draw on.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price

£198,000

postcode sector NE9 5 · 349 sales

Typical range

£126,750 to £310,000

middle half of sales

Detached

£392,500

Semi-detached

£250,000

Terraced

£248,000

Flat

£120,000

Homes around this school are cheaper than most of England.

Every residential sale registered in this postcode sector since January 2024, from HM Land Registry. A sector covers roughly 2,500 addresses. England's median over the same period was £293,000.

Homes here are cheap by national standards, yet the area is among the least deprived in England — typical of rural and small-town England, where low housing costs sit alongside comfortable incomes.

Who lives there

Adults with a degree

51%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications

9%

England 18.3%

In professional or managerial work

16%

England 13.4%

Households deprived in 2+ ways

15%

England 17.8%

Residents in very good health

49%

England 48.4%

Housing

Owned by the occupier

94%

England 62.7%

Social housing

1%

England 17%

Privately rented

5%

England 19.2%

Detached homes

44%

England 38.2%

Four or more bedrooms

20%

England 22.5%

No car

11%

England 21.9%

Census 2021, for Gateshead 016D and the wider neighbourhood around it. These figures describe the area, not the pupils — children may travel in from much further away, and for selective, faith and independent schools they usually do.

School details

Type

Community special school

Phase

Special

Ages

Ages 11–18

Gender

Mixed

Religious character

None

Sixth form

Yes

Nursery

No

Boarding

Day school

Federation

Dryden & Hill Top Learning Federation

Headteacher

Headteacher: Elizabeth Johnson

Opened as this establishment

1 September 1997

Register status

Open

Local authority

Gateshead

Ward

Low Fell

Constituency

Gateshead Central and Whickham

URN

131200

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Official DfE record

Open the register entry

The source record for this establishment and URN.

The URN identifies this registered establishment. If a school converts or is replaced, DfE may issue a new URN; this page does not stitch different establishments together by a similar name.

Nearest special schools