Whitley Bay High School
Deneholm, Whitley Bay, NE25 9AS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 13 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- The North Tyneside Learning Trust
- Headteacher
- Mr S Wilson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Tynemouth
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,700
- Pupils on roll
- 1,797
- URN
- 108638
- Local authority
- North Tyneside
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01917317070
About this school
Whitley Bay High School is a foundation secondary school in Whitley Bay. It teaches children aged 13 to 18 and has 1,797 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 369 | 367 | 368 |
| Attainment 8 score | 55.3 | 56.3 | 54.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.50 +0.35 to +0.64 | +0.31 +0.16 to +0.45 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 63% | 65.7% | 62.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 84% | 84.7% | 79.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 27% | 33% | 32.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.7 |
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 Whitley Bay High 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 | North Tyneside average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 55.3 | 38.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 56.3 | 35.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 54.2 | 36.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,695 |
| 2023/24 | 1,744 |
| 2024/25 | 1,762 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Whitley Bay High School compares
Whitley Bay High School ranked 3rd of 12 secondary schools in North Tyneside for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 86% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 28% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54.2 | 6.7% | 9.7% | 1,797 | — |
| Monkseaton High School | 41 | 12.7% | 31.1% | 155 | 1.2 miles |
| Marden High School | 55.1 | 5.5% | 16.4% | 1,014 | 1.7 miles |
| John Spence Community High School | 41 | 9.5% | 49.1% | 872 | 1.9 miles |
| St Thomas More Catholic High School | 49.6 | 8.8% | 24.8% | 1,660 | 2.1 miles |
| Seaton Valley High School | 43.2 | 10.2% | 33.1% | 656 | 2.9 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 9.65%
- English as an additional language
- 4.4%
- Overall absence
- 6.73%
- Persistent absence
- 14.6%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Monkseaton High School1.2 miles
Secondary · Whitley Bay
-
Marden High School1.7 miles
Secondary · North Shields
-
John Spence Community High School1.9 miles
Secondary · North Shields
-
St Thomas More Catholic High School2.1 miles
Secondary · North Shields
-
Seaton Valley High School2.9 miles
Secondary · Seaton Delaval
Other schools in Whitley Bay
- Monkseaton High School Secondary
- Appletree Gardens First School Primary
- Coquet Park First School Primary
- Holywell Village First School Primary
- Langley First School Primary
- Marine Park First School Primary
- New Hartley First School Primary
- Rockcliffe First School Primary
- Seaton Delaval First School Primary
- Seaton Sluice First School Primary
- South Wellfield First School Primary
- Southridge First School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Whitley Bay High School teach?
- Whitley Bay High School teaches children aged 13 to 18. It is a secondary school in Whitley Bay.
- Who is the headteacher of Whitley Bay High School?
- The headteacher of Whitley Bay High School is Mr S Wilson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Whitley Bay High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Whitley Bay High 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 big is Whitley Bay High School?
- Whitley Bay High School has 1,797 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 13 to 18.
- Is Whitley Bay High School full?
- Whitley Bay High School has capacity for 1,700 pupils and 1,797 on roll (106%), so it is at or above 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 Whitley Bay High School a faith school?
- No. Whitley Bay High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Whitley Bay High School a selective school?
- No. Whitley Bay High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Whitley Bay High School?
- Whitley Bay High School is part of The North Tyneside Learning Trust. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Whitley Bay High School have?
- The schools register lists Whitley Bay High School's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Whitley Bay High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 55.3 in 2022/23 and 54.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Whitley Bay High School rank locally?
- Whitley Bay High School ranked 3rd of 12 secondary schools in North Tyneside for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 86% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 28% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Whitley Bay High School's absence rate?
- Whitley Bay High School's overall absence rate is 6.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Whitley Bay High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Whitley Bay High 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.