Kepier
Dairy Lane, Houghton le Spring, DH4 5BH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- EDEN LEARNING TRUST
- Principal
- Mr Colin Devlin
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Eden Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Houghton and Sunderland South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,210
- Pupils on roll
- 1,131
- URN
- 137262
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01915128960
About this school
Kepier is a secondary academy in Houghton le Spring. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,131 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Kepier, and its latest judgement is set out 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
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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 205 | 204 | 220 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.9 | 46.9 | 43.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.16 -0.36 to +0.03 | -0.29 -0.48 to -0.09 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 50% | 42.6% | 37.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 68.1% | 55% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 30% | 34.8% | 30.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
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 Kepier has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Sunderland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 49.9 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.9 | 38.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 43.6 | 38.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,116 |
| 2023/24 | 1,147 |
| 2024/25 | 1,144 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Kepier compares
Kepier ranked 10th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43.6 | 10% | 37.2% | 1,131 | — |
| Hetton Academy | 51.8 | 10% | 44.4% | 681 | 1.6 miles |
| Farringdon Community Academy | 44.6 | 11.6% | 45.2% | 712 | 2.9 miles |
| Sandhill View Academy | 38.6 | 10.8% | 51.1% | 743 | 3.7 miles |
| St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington | 48.9 | 7.8% | 16.9% | 1,527 | 3.8 miles |
| Biddick Academy | 42.5 | 10.4% | 31% | 1,002 | 4.0 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)
- 37.15%
- English as an additional language
- 1.2%
- Overall absence
- 10.02%
- Persistent absence
- 28.77%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hetton Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Houghton le Spring
-
Farringdon Community Academy2.9 miles
Secondary · Sunderland
-
Sandhill View Academy3.7 miles
Secondary · Sunderland
-
St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington3.8 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Biddick Academy4.0 miles
Secondary · Washington
Other schools in Houghton le Spring
- Hetton Academy Secondary
- Hetton Lyons Nursery School Nursery
- Houghton Le Spring Nursery School Nursery
- Barnwell Academy Primary
- Bernard Gilpin Primary School Primary
- Bournmoor Primary School Primary
- Burnside Academy Inspires Primary
- Dubmire Primary Primary
- Easington Lane Primary School Primary
- East Rainton Primary School Primary
- Eppleton Academy Primary School Primary
- Gillas Lane Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Kepier teach?
- Kepier teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Houghton le Spring.
- Who is the principal of Kepier?
- The principal of Kepier is Mr Colin Devlin, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Kepier been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Kepier, 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 Kepier?
- Kepier has 1,131 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Kepier full?
- Kepier has capacity for 1,210 pupils and 1,131 on roll (93%), 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 Kepier a faith school?
- No. Kepier has no designated religious character.
- Is Kepier a selective school?
- No. Kepier is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Kepier part of an academy trust?
- Kepier is part of EDEN LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Kepier's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.9 in 2022/23 and 43.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Kepier compare with other schools in Sunderland?
- Kepier ranked 10th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 51% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Kepier's absence rate?
- Kepier's overall absence rate is 10% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Kepier's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Kepier'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.