Whickham School
Burnthouse Lane, Whickham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE16 5AR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- WHICKHAM SCHOOL AND SPORTS COLLEGE
- Headteacher
- Mr Fraser Turnbull
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Gateshead Central and Whickham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,713
- Pupils on roll
- 1,690
- URN
- 137360
- Local authority
- Gateshead
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01914960026
About this school
Whickham School is a secondary academy in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,690 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- 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 | 253 | 266 | 265 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.3 | 52.4 | 53.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.15 -0.02 to +0.33 | +0.26 +0.08 to +0.43 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 47% | 55.6% | 60% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 72% | 76.3% | 81.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 64% | 66.9% | 56.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
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 Whickham 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 | Gateshead average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 52.3 | 35.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 52.4 | 39.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 53 | 36.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,676 |
| 2023/24 | 1,673 |
| 2024/25 | 1,721 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Whickham School compares
Whickham School ranked 2nd of 8 secondary schools in Gateshead for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 83% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53 | 8.1% | 22.6% | 1,690 | — |
| Kingsmeadow Community School | 42.9 | 9.5% | 49.4% | 868 | 1.4 miles |
| St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon | 51.9 | 5.2% | 18.7% | 1,401 | 2.1 miles |
| St Cuthbert's High School | 49 | 8.1% | 40.3% | 1,224 | 2.7 miles |
| Sacred Heart Catholic High School | 52.1 | 9.5% | 37.8% | 1,424 | 3.1 miles |
| Grace College | 42.9 | 16.8% | 41.5% | 1,125 | 3.2 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
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 22.58%
- English as an additional language
- 7.6%
- Overall absence
- 8.13%
- Persistent absence
- 21.09%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Kingsmeadow Community School1.4 miles
Secondary · Gateshead
-
St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon2.1 miles
Secondary · Blaydon-on-Tyne
-
St Cuthbert's High School2.7 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Sacred Heart Catholic High School3.1 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Grace College3.2 miles
Secondary · Gateshead
Other schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Whickham School ranks 3rd of the 15 ranked secondary schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Benfield School Secondary
- Callerton Academy Secondary
- George Stephenson High School Secondary
- Gosforth Academy Secondary
- Jesmond Park Academy Secondary
- Kenton School Secondary
- Longbenton High School Secondary
- North Gosforth Academy Secondary
- Sacred Heart Catholic High School Secondary
- St Cuthbert's High School Secondary
- St Mary's Catholic School Secondary
- Studio West Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Whickham School teach?
- Whickham School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Who is the headteacher of Whickham School?
- The headteacher of Whickham School is Mr Fraser Turnbull, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Whickham School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Whickham 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 Whickham School?
- Whickham School has 1,690 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Whickham School full?
- Whickham School has capacity for 1,713 pupils and 1,690 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Whickham School a faith school?
- No. Whickham School has no designated religious character.
- Is Whickham School a selective school?
- No. Whickham School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Whickham School?
- Whickham School is part of WHICKHAM SCHOOL AND SPORTS COLLEGE. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Whickham School have?
- The schools register lists Whickham School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Whickham School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 52.3 in 2022/23 and 53 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Whickham School rank locally?
- Whickham School ranked 2nd of 8 secondary schools in Gateshead for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 83% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Whickham School's absence rate?
- Whickham School's overall absence rate is 8.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Whickham School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Whickham 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.