John Spence Community High School
Preston Road, North Shields, NE29 9PU
This school is closed (it closed in October 2023).
It was replaced by John Spence Community High School. That page has the school's current information.
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Jonathan Heath
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Tynemouth
- Setting
- (England/Wales) Urban major conurbation
- Capacity
- 885
- Pupils on roll
- 846
- URN
- 108644
- Local authority
- North Tyneside
About this school
John Spence Community High School was a foundation secondary school in North Shields. It taught children aged 11 to 16 and had 846 pupils on roll.
Ofsted did not inspect it under the current framework.
Ofsted judgement
John Spence Community High School has not been inspected by Ofsted yet.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 156 | 163 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.3 | 41.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.38 -0.60 to -0.16 | -0.44 -0.66 to -0.22 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 35% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 66% | 57.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 13% | 8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 3.5 |
Trends over time
How John Spence Community 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 | 43.3 | 38.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.2 | 35.1 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | — | 36.8 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
How John Spence Community High School compares
Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2022/23.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | — | 9.4% | 47.4% | 846 | — |
| John Spence Community High School | 41 | 9.5% | 49.1% | 872 | 0.0 miles |
| Marden High School | 55.1 | 5.5% | 16.4% | 1,014 | 0.5 miles |
| Monkseaton High School | 41 | 12.7% | 31.1% | 155 | 0.8 miles |
| St Thomas More Catholic High School | 49.6 | 8.8% | 24.8% | 1,660 | 1.0 miles |
| Norham High School | 42.7 | 8% | 63.2% | 498 | 1.4 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 2022/23 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 47.4%
- English as an additional language
- 3.2%
- Overall absence
- 9.4%
- Persistent absence
- 27.2%
Location
Nearby schools
-
John Spence Community High School0.0 miles
Secondary · North Shields
-
Marden High School0.5 miles
Secondary · North Shields
-
Monkseaton High School0.8 miles
Secondary · Whitley Bay
-
St Thomas More Catholic High School1.0 miles
Secondary · North Shields
-
Norham High School1.4 miles
Secondary · North Shields
Other schools in North Shields
- John Spence Community High School Secondary
- Marden High School Secondary
- Norham High School Secondary
- St Thomas More Catholic High School Secondary
- Sir James Knott Memorial Nursery School Nursery
- Christ Church CofE Primary School Primary
- Collingwood Primary School Primary
- Cullercoats Primary School Primary
- Monkhouse Primary School Primary
- New York Primary School Primary
- Percy Main Primary School Primary
- Preston Grange Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does John Spence Community High School teach?
- John Spence Community High School taught children aged 11 to 16. It was a secondary school in North Shields.
- Has John Spence Community High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has not inspected John Spence Community High School under its current framework, so no current judgement is shown. That is common for newer schools and is not a mark against a school.
- How many pupils are at John Spence Community High School?
- John Spence Community High School had 846 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- How have John Spence Community High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.3 in 2022/23 and 41.2 in 2023/24. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What are John Spence Community High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, John Spence Community 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 31 October 2023.