Local authority · North East
Northumberland has 28 secondary schools in this dataset — 27 state-funded and 1 independent. 5 have a religious character; 16 have a sixth form.
The typical school here posts a three-year Progress 8 of -0.12 (average) — 0.11 of a grade per subject below the national median of -0.01. That is the middle of the 15 schools in this area with a published score.
The spread inside the area is wider than the gap between areas: from -1.06 to +0.59. Which school a child goes to matters more here than which area you move to.
For 2026 entry the typical school here drew 1.00 first preferences per place — more pressure than the national median of 0.95×. 5 of the 11 schools with published figures were named first by more families than they had places for. A high figure means popular, not good, and it is not your chance of a place — that depends on where you live.
Overall absence runs at 8.6% for the typical school here, below the national median of 8.7%. Absence is a plainer signal of whether pupils are turning up and engaged than any grade average.
Ordered on the three-year average Progress 8, which is steadier than any single year. Read the confidence interval beside each score before you read the order: it is the range the school's true figure is likely to sit in, and a wide one means a small year group rather than an unpredictable school.
| School | Progress 8 | 95% interval | Attainment 8 | Pressure | Ofsted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashington AcademyAcademy sponsor led | +0.59well above average | +0.24 to +0.672023–24 | 49.4 | 1.00× | Good |
| 2 | Queen Elizabeth High SchoolAcademy converter | +0.16average | +0.11 to +0.432023–24 | 53.7 | — | Good |
| 3 | The King Edward VI SchoolAcademy converter | +0.10average | -0.02 to +0.292023–24 | 52.6 | — | — |
| 4 | Prudhoe Community High SchoolAcademy converter | +0.02average | -0.12 to +0.282023–24 | 48.3 | — | Good (ungraded) |
| 5 | Coquet Community SchoolCommunity school | -0.06average | -0.65 to -0.072023–24 | 38.3 | 1.00× | Good |
| 6 | The Blyth AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.10average | -0.40 to +0.042023–24 | 40.9 | 0.79× | Good |
| 7 | St Benet Biscop Catholic AcademyAcademy converter | -0.12average | -0.37 to +0.032023–24 | 46.2 | 0.96× | Good |
| 8 | Ponteland High SchoolAcademy converter | -0.12average | -0.04 to +0.312023–24 | 54.3 | 1.16× | Good |
| 9 | Cramlington Learning VillageAcademy converter | -0.13average | -0.30 to +0.012023–24 | 47.7 | 1.01× | Expected standard (achievement) |
| 10 | Bede AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.20average | -0.29 to +0.092023–24 | 44.6 | 1.33× | Good |
| 11 | Bedlington AcademyAcademy sponsor led | -0.20average | -0.51 to -0.012023–24 | 46.1 | 1.00× | Good |
| 12 | Seaton Valley High SchoolCommunity school | -0.27below average | -0.47 to +0.002023–24 | 42.6 | — | Some aspects not as strong (ungraded) |
| 13 | Haydon Bridge High SchoolFoundation school | -0.56well below average | -0.90 to -0.252023–24 | 40.2 | 0.98× | Urgent improvement (achievement) |
| 14 | Berwick AcademyAcademy converter | -1.00well below average | -1.07 to -0.622023–24 | 37.2 | — | Requires improvement |
| 15 | NCEA Duke's Secondary SchoolAcademy sponsor led | -1.06well below average | -1.26 to -0.842023–24 | 37.8 | 1.01× | Requires improvement |
4 of the 14 other schools ranked here have a confidence interval that overlaps Ashington Academy's. On these figures they cannot be told apart from the school at the top of the table, and the order between them is not a finding. 8 schools here have an interval that includes zero (shaded above) — those cannot be told apart from an average school nationally.
These are not bottom of the table — they are not in it. A school with no published score has not done badly; the measure was not calculated for it, and the reason differs.
| Bellingham Middle School and Sports College | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
|---|---|
| Corbridge Middle School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| Dr Thomlinson Church of England Middle School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| Hexham Middle School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| Highfield Middle School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| Longridge Towers School | Independent — no Progress 8 is calculated for fee-paying schools |
| Morpeth Chantry Middle School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| Morpeth Newminster Middle School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| Ovingham Middle School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| Seaton Sluice Middle School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| St Joseph's Catholic Middle School, Hexham | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| The Duchess's Community High School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
| Whytrig Middle School | No Progress 8 published — usually a new school, a special school, or too small a cohort |
The most sought-after school in Northumberland for 2026 entry was Bede Academy at 1.33 first preferences per place — 174 families named it first for 131 places.
Pressure is not a chance of admission. A school with two applicants per place can still admit every family living near it, while a less popular school further away turns you down. Distance from the gate is usually what decides it, and no national figure can tell you that for your own address.
See Northumberland on the map →The same schools on a map, with every filter: results, admissions pressure, Ofsted, faith and selection — or sorted by distance from your own postcode.Admissions do not stop at an authority line. If you live near one, your realistic list of schools spans both sides of it.
The results here are for 2023–24 and earlier, so they describe pupils who have already left. Nothing on this page covers sixth-form results, pastoral care, music, sport or drama, or how a school feels to walk around — which is what parents most often say settled it. The ranking is a starting point for a shortlist, not a verdict on a school.
Nor is it a prediction of a place. Admission depends on each school's criteria and, most often, on how far you live from it — and in Northumberland you apply for a state-funded place through the council's coordinated scheme, naming several schools in order of preference.