Berwick Academy
Adams Drive, Spittal, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 2JF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 13 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- BERWICK ACADEMY
- Headteacher
- Mrs Kelly Holbrook
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- North Northumberland
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 934
- Pupils on roll
- 601
- URN
- 137598
- Local authority
- Northumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01289305083
About this school
Berwick Academy is a secondary academy in Berwick-upon-Tweed. It teaches children aged 13 to 18 and has 601 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
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
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Sixth form
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 132 | 156 | 140 |
| Attainment 8 score | 36.5 | 38.6 | 40.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.99 -1.24 to -0.74 | -0.85 -1.07 to -0.62 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 26% | 29.5% | 34.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 49% | 53.8% | 55% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 5% | 9.6% | 6.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
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 Berwick 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 | Northumberland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 36.5 | 35.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 38.6 | 36.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 40.3 | 35.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 545 |
| 2023/24 | 586 |
| 2024/25 | 586 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Berwick Academy compares
Berwick Academy ranked 13th of 16 secondary schools in Northumberland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 39% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 40.3 | 11.7% | 29.2% | 601 | — |
| Eyemouth High School | — | — | — | — | 8.1 miles |
| Prior Park Primary School | — | 5% | 42.6% | 110 | 0.2 miles |
| Spittal Community Primary School | — | 4.6% | 32.1% | 128 | 0.4 miles |
| The Grove Special School | — | 7.9% | 24.4% | 51 | 0.5 miles |
| Tweedmouth West Primary School | — | 5.1% | 17.5% | 145 | 0.8 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)
- 29.23%
- English as an additional language
- 6.3%
- Overall absence
- 11.69%
- Persistent absence
- 36.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Eyemouth High School8.1 miles
Secondary
-
Prior Park Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Berwick-upon-Tweed
-
Spittal Community Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Berwick-upon-Tweed
-
The Grove Special School0.5 miles
Special schools · Berwick-upon-Tweed
-
Tweedmouth West Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Berwick-upon-Tweed
Other schools in Berwick-upon-Tweed
- Berwick St Mary's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Holy Island Church of England Primary School Primary
- Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School Primary
- Hugh Joicey Church of England Primary School, Ford Primary
- Norham St Ceolwulfs CofE Controlled Primary School Primary
- Prior Park Primary School Primary
- Scremerston First School Primary
- Spittal Community Primary School Primary
- St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Berwick Primary
- Tweedmouth West Primary School Primary
- Berwick Middle School Middle deemed secondary
- Tweedmouth Community Middle School Middle deemed secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Berwick Academy teach?
- Berwick Academy teaches children aged 13 to 18. It is a secondary school in Berwick-upon-Tweed.
- Who is the headteacher of Berwick Academy?
- The headteacher of Berwick Academy is Mrs Kelly Holbrook, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Berwick Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Berwick 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 big is Berwick Academy?
- Berwick Academy has 601 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 13 to 18.
- Is Berwick Academy full?
- Berwick Academy has capacity for 934 pupils and 601 on roll (64%), 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 Berwick Academy a faith school?
- No. Berwick Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Berwick Academy a selective school?
- No. Berwick Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Berwick Academy?
- Berwick Academy is part of BERWICK ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Berwick Academy have?
- The schools register lists Berwick Academy's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Berwick Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 36.5 in 2022/23 and 40.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Berwick Academy rank locally?
- Berwick Academy ranked 13th of 16 secondary schools in Northumberland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 39% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Berwick Academy's absence rate?
- Berwick Academy's overall absence rate is 11.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Berwick Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Berwick 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.