Haydon Bridge High School
Haydon Bridge, Hexham, NE47 6LR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Principal
- Ms Kath Pigdon
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Hexham
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 904
- Pupils on roll
- 392
- URN
- 122328
- Local authority
- Northumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01434684422
About this school
Haydon Bridge High School is a foundation secondary school in Hexham. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 392 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Urgent improvement
- Attendance and behaviour
- Urgent improvement
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Needs attention
- Leadership and governance
- Urgent improvement
- Post-16 provision
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: special measures.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 63 | 80 | 73 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.9 | 38.4 | 35.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.35 -0.71 to 0.00 | -0.58 -0.90 to -0.25 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 44% | 21.3% | 13.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 63% | 47.5% | 41.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 5% | 10% | 8.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
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 Haydon Bridge 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 | Northumberland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 43.9 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.4 | 36.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 35.1 | 35.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 423 |
| 2023/24 | 423 |
| 2024/25 | 421 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Haydon Bridge High School compares
Haydon Bridge High School ranked 14th of 16 secondary schools in Northumberland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35.1 | 12.6% | 31.9% | 392 | — |
| Queen Elizabeth High School | 50.7 | 9.1% | 14.2% | 1,299 | 5.4 miles |
| Shaftoe Trust Academy | — | 3.2% | 30.5% | 102 | 0.4 miles |
| Newbrough Church of England Primary School | — | 5.5% | 19% | 65 | 3.3 miles |
| Henshaw Church of England Primary School | — | 4.7% | 16.1% | 86 | 4.6 miles |
| Allendale Primary School | — | 4.4% | 21% | 126 | 5.4 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report20 January 2026
- 27 February 2024
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 31.88%
- English as an additional language
- 1.2%
- Overall absence
- 12.64%
- Persistent absence
- 34.46%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Queen Elizabeth High School5.4 miles
Secondary · Hexham
-
Shaftoe Trust Academy0.4 miles
Primary · Hexham
-
Newbrough Church of England Primary School3.3 miles
Primary · Hexham
-
Henshaw Church of England Primary School4.6 miles
Primary · Hexham
-
Allendale Primary School5.4 miles
Primary · Allendale
Other schools in Hexham
- Queen Elizabeth High School Secondary
- Acomb First School Primary
- Beaufront First School Primary
- Bellingham Primary School Primary
- Chollerton Church of England Aided First School Primary
- Greenhaugh Primary School Primary
- Henshaw Church of England Primary School Primary
- Hexham First School Primary
- Humshaugh Church of England First School Primary
- Kielder Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Newbrough Church of England Primary School Primary
- Shaftoe Trust Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Haydon Bridge High School teach?
- Haydon Bridge High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Hexham.
- Who is the principal of Haydon Bridge High School?
- The principal of Haydon Bridge High School is Ms Kath Pigdon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Haydon Bridge High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Haydon Bridge 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 Haydon Bridge High School?
- Haydon Bridge High School has 392 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Haydon Bridge High School full?
- Haydon Bridge High School has capacity for 904 pupils and 392 on roll (43%), 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 Haydon Bridge High School a faith school?
- No. Haydon Bridge High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Haydon Bridge High School a selective school?
- No. Haydon Bridge High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Haydon Bridge High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.9 in 2022/23 and 35.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Haydon Bridge High School rank locally?
- Haydon Bridge High School ranked 14th of 16 secondary schools in Northumberland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 27% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Haydon Bridge High School's absence rate?
- Haydon Bridge High School's overall absence rate is 12.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Haydon Bridge High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Haydon Bridge 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 30 June 2026.