Northern Counties School
Tankerville Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE2 3BB
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Non-maintained special school
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Martin Lonergan
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Newcastle upon Tyne North
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 120
- Pupils on roll
- 89
- URN
- 108551
- Local authority
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01912815821
About this school
Northern Counties School is a special school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 89 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Northern Counties School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 6 | 15 | 9 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - | - |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - | - |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Northern Counties School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 15.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 86 |
| 2023/24 | 78 |
| 2024/25 | 87 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 63.93%
- English as an additional language
- 4.6%
- Overall absence
- 15.35%
- Persistent absence
- 35.94%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Newcastle High School for Girls GDST0.1 miles
Independent schools
-
Newcastle Preparatory School0.4 miles
Independent schools · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Royal Grammar School0.5 miles
Independent schools · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
University of Newcastle Upon Tyne0.6 miles
Universities · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
University of Northumbria At Newcastle0.9 miles
Universities · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Other schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Brenkley School Special schools
- Emily Wilding Davison School Special schools
- Hadrian School Special schools
- Mary Astell Academy Academies
- Moorbridge Local authority maintained schools
- Newcastle Bridges School Academies
- NHS Choices College Other types
- Percy Hedley Hedleys College Other types
- Percy Hedley School Special schools
- Sir Charles Parsons School Special schools
- Thomas Bewick School Academies
- Trinity Academy Newcastle Academies
Common questions
- What ages does Northern Counties School teach?
- Northern Counties School teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is a special school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Who is the headteacher of Northern Counties School?
- The headteacher of Northern Counties School is Mr Martin Lonergan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Northern Counties School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Northern Counties School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Northern Counties School?
- Northern Counties School has 89 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is Northern Counties School full?
- Northern Counties School has capacity for 120 pupils and 89 on roll (74%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Northern Counties School a faith school?
- No. Northern Counties School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Northern Counties School have?
- The schools register lists Northern Counties School's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- What is Northern Counties School's absence rate?
- Northern Counties School's overall absence rate is 15.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Northern Counties School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Northern Counties School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.