Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy
Birtley Lane, Birtley, Chester le Street, DH3 2LP
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- LORD LAWSON OF BEAMISH ACADEMY
- Principal
- Dr Andrew Fowler
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Washington and Gateshead South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,496
- Pupils on roll
- 1,334
- URN
- 137942
- Local authority
- Gateshead
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01914334026
About this school
Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy is a secondary academy in Chester le Street. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,334 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 228 | 240 | 237 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.3 | 45.1 | 46.6 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.09 -0.28 to +0.09 | -0.28 -0.46 to -0.09 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 49% | 50.8% | 49.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 67.9% | 71.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 5% | 9.6% | 8.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
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 Lord Lawson of Beamish 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 | Gateshead average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 47.3 | 35.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.1 | 39.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.6 | 36.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,338 |
| 2023/24 | 1,353 |
| 2024/25 | 1,293 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy compares
Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy ranked 5th of 8 secondary schools in Gateshead for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 64% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.6 | 7.9% | 32.1% | 1,334 | — |
| Oxclose Community Academy | 41.8 | 11% | 38% | 1,029 | 1.0 miles |
| St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington | 48.9 | 7.8% | 16.9% | 1,527 | 2.0 miles |
| Biddick Academy | 42.5 | 10.4% | 31% | 1,002 | 2.1 miles |
| Washington Academy | 33.1 | 13% | 55.7% | 627 | 2.2 miles |
| Park View School | 46.4 | 7.3% | 24.2% | 1,631 | 2.6 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
-
Graded inspection report2 December 2025
- 15 November 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 32.11%
- English as an additional language
- 8.2%
- Overall absence
- 7.85%
- Persistent absence
- 20.83%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Oxclose Community Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington2.0 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Biddick Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Washington Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Park View School2.6 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
Other schools in Chester le Street
- Hermitage Academy Secondary
- Park View School Secondary
- Barley Mow Primary School Primary
- Bullion Lane Primary School Primary
- Cestria Primary School Primary
- Chester-Le-Street CofE (Controlled) Primary School Primary
- Lumley Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Lumley Junior School Primary
- Nettlesworth Primary School Primary
- Newker Primary School Primary
- Ouston Primary School Primary
- Pelton Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy teach?
- Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Chester le Street.
- Who is the principal of Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy?
- The principal of Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy is Dr Andrew Fowler, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Lord Lawson of Beamish 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 Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy?
- Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy has 1,334 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy full?
- Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy has capacity for 1,496 pupils and 1,334 on roll (89%), 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 Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy a faith school?
- No. Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy a selective school?
- No. Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy?
- Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy is part of LORD LAWSON OF BEAMISH ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.3 in 2022/23 and 46.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy rank locally?
- Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy ranked 5th of 8 secondary schools in Gateshead for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 64% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 18% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy's absence rate?
- Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy's overall absence rate is 7.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Lord Lawson of Beamish 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.