NCEA Duke's Secondary School
Academy Road, Ashington, NE63 9FZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- NORTHUMBERLAND CHURCH OF ENGLAND ACADEMY TRUST
- Executive Director
- Mr Ruston Atkinson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Diocese
- Diocese of Newcastle
- Sponsor
- Diocese of Newcastle
- Constituency
- Blyth and Ashington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,150
- Pupils on roll
- 980
- URN
- 135886
- Local authority
- Northumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01670816111
About this school
NCEA Duke's Secondary School is a Church of England secondary academy in Ashington. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 980 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected NCEA Duke's Secondary 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- 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 | 167 | 180 | 188 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.7 | 34.0 | 32.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.97 -1.18 to -0.75 | -1.05 -1.26 to -0.84 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 34% | 25.6% | 20.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 56% | 46.1% | 41.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 8% | 5% | 11.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.1 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
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 NCEA Duke's Secondary 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 | 39.7 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 34 | 36.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 32 | 35.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,018 |
| 2023/24 | 1,021 |
| 2024/25 | 1,045 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How NCEA Duke's Secondary School compares
NCEA Duke's Secondary School ranked 16th of 16 secondary schools in Northumberland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 23% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 32 | 13.6% | 49.8% | 980 | — |
| Ashington Academy | 47.1 | 8% | 35.5% | 964 | 1.3 miles |
| Bedlington Academy | 47.4 | 8.2% | 31.9% | 822 | 2.7 miles |
| The Blyth Academy | 49.2 | 10.4% | 50.4% | 766 | 3.6 miles |
| St Benet Biscop Catholic Academy | 41.3 | 11.1% | 31.1% | 994 | 3.8 miles |
| The King Edward VI School | 52.2 | 10.1% | 11.8% | 1,426 | 5.8 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)
- 49.79%
- English as an additional language
- 3.6%
- Overall absence
- 13.56%
- Persistent absence
- 39.34%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ashington Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Ashington
-
Bedlington Academy2.7 miles
Secondary · Bedlington
-
The Blyth Academy3.6 miles
Secondary · Blyth
-
St Benet Biscop Catholic Academy3.8 miles
Secondary · Bedlington
-
The King Edward VI School5.8 miles
Secondary · Morpeth
Other schools in Ashington
- Ashington Academy Secondary
- Bothal Academy Primary
- Central Academy Primary
- NCEA Bishop's Primary School Primary
- NCEA James Knott CofE Primary School Primary
- NCEA Thomas Bewick C of E Primary School Primary
- St Aidan's Catholic Primary School, Ashington Primary
- Gust Independent School Special schools
- NCEA Castle School Academies
Common questions
- What ages does NCEA Duke's Secondary School teach?
- NCEA Duke's Secondary School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Ashington.
- Who is the executive director of NCEA Duke's Secondary School?
- The executive director of NCEA Duke's Secondary School is Mr Ruston Atkinson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has NCEA Duke's Secondary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected NCEA Duke's Secondary 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 NCEA Duke's Secondary School?
- NCEA Duke's Secondary School has 980 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is NCEA Duke's Secondary School full?
- NCEA Duke's Secondary School has capacity for 1,150 pupils and 980 on roll (85%), 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 NCEA Duke's Secondary School a faith school?
- Yes. NCEA Duke's Secondary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Newcastle.
- Is NCEA Duke's Secondary School a selective school?
- No. NCEA Duke's Secondary School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is NCEA Duke's Secondary School part of an academy trust?
- NCEA Duke's Secondary School is part of NORTHUMBERLAND CHURCH OF ENGLAND ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have NCEA Duke's Secondary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.7 in 2022/23 and 32 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does NCEA Duke's Secondary School compare with other schools in Northumberland?
- NCEA Duke's Secondary School ranked 16th of 16 secondary schools in Northumberland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 23% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is NCEA Duke's Secondary School's absence rate?
- NCEA Duke's Secondary School's overall absence rate is 13.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are NCEA Duke's Secondary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, NCEA Duke's Secondary 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 1 July 2026.