Excelsior Academy
Denton Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE15 6AF
- Phase
- All-through
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE LAIDLAW SCHOOLS TRUST
- Executive Principal
- Mr Mark Foster
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- The Laidlaw Schools Trust
- Constituency
- Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,710
- Pupils on roll
- 1,339
- URN
- 135423
- Local authority
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01912288400
About this school
Excelsior Academy is an all-through academy in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It teaches children aged 3 to 19 and has 1,339 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Excelsior Academy, 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 30 | 29 | 22 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 33% | 34% | 55% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 3% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 47% | 66% | 73% |
| Expected standard in maths | 33% | 45% | 73% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 47% | 55% | 45% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 100.0 | 104.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 96.0 | 99.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -6.60 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 204 | 196 | 205 |
| Attainment 8 score | 31.9 | 30.2 | 33.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.68 -0.89 to -0.47 | -0.62 -0.82 to -0.42 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 19% | 16.3% | 24.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 32% | 33.7% | 39.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 39% | 41.3% | 36.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.7 | 2.7 | 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 Excelsior Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Newcastle upon Tyne average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 33% | 59.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 34% | 60.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 55% | 62.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Newcastle upon Tyne average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 31.9 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 30.2 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 33.4 | 38 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,497 |
| 2023/24 | 1,460 |
| 2024/25 | 1,439 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Excelsior Academy compares
Excelsior Academy ranked 11th of 12 secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 25% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 33.4 | 10.3% | 72.7% | 1,339 | — |
| Academy 360 | 31.7 | 11.4% | 64.5% | 854 | 11.2 miles |
| Christ's College | 43.2 | 7.4% | 33% | 796 | 11.4 miles |
| Bede Academy | 48.9 | 6.2% | 24.5% | 2,030 | 12.0 miles |
| St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Newcastle | — | 5.3% | 35.3% | 204 | 0.3 miles |
| Broadwood Primary School | — | 7.4% | 59.6% | 234 | 0.4 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 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 72.67%
- English as an additional language
- 51.7%
- Overall absence
- 10.31%
- Persistent absence
- 32.54%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Academy 36011.2 miles
All-through · Sunderland
-
Christ's College11.4 miles
All-through · Sunderland
-
Bede Academy12.0 miles
All-through · Blyth
-
St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Newcastle0.3 miles
Primary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Broadwood Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Other schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Excelsior Academy ranks 78th of the 94 ranked primary schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Excelsior Academy ranks 14th of the 15 ranked secondary schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Ashfield Nursery School Nursery
- Monkchester Road Nursery School Nursery
- Newburn Manor Nursery School Nursery
- Amberley Primary School Primary
- Archbishop Runcie CofE First School Primary
- Archibald First School Primary
- Atkinson Road Primary Academy Primary
- Backworth Park Primary School Primary
- Balliol Primary School Primary
- Balliol Primary School Primary
- Beech Hill Primary School Primary
- Belsay Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Excelsior Academy teach?
- Excelsior Academy teaches children aged 3 to 19. It is an all-through school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Who is the executive principal of Excelsior Academy?
- The executive principal of Excelsior Academy is Mr Mark Foster, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Excelsior Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Excelsior Academy, 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 Excelsior Academy?
- Excelsior Academy has 1,339 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 19.
- Is Excelsior Academy full?
- Excelsior Academy has capacity for 1,710 pupils and 1,339 on roll (78%), 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 Excelsior Academy a faith school?
- No. Excelsior Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Excelsior Academy a selective school?
- No. Excelsior Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Does Excelsior Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Excelsior Academy as having nursery classes.
- Is Excelsior Academy part of an academy trust?
- Excelsior Academy is part of THE LAIDLAW SCHOOLS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Excelsior Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 33% in 2022/23 and 55% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Excelsior Academy compare with other schools in Newcastle upon Tyne?
- Excelsior Academy ranked 11th of 12 secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 25% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Excelsior Academy's absence rate?
- Excelsior Academy's overall absence rate is 10.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Excelsior Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Excelsior Academy'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 1 July 2026.