Ridgeway Primary Academy
Park Avenue, South Shields, NE34 8AB
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- TYNE COAST ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Alex Golden
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Tyne Coast Academy Trust
- Constituency
- South Shields
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 472
- Pupils on roll
- 452
- URN
- 139124
- Local authority
- South Tyneside
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01914552865
About this school
Ridgeway Primary Academy is a primary academy in South Shields. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 452 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit 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
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 52 | 52 | 59 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 52% | 50% | 51% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 2% |
| Expected standard in reading | 67% | 56% | 64% |
| Expected standard in maths | 65% | 60% | 66% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 69% | 58% | 68% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 101.0 | 102.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 101.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.50 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.90 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Ridgeway Primary 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 | South Tyneside average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 52% | 60.7% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 50% | 59.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 51% | 60.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 448 |
| 2023/24 | 459 |
| 2024/25 | 461 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ridgeway Primary Academy compares
Ridgeway Primary Academy ranked 32nd of 38 primary schools in South Tyneside for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 28% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51% | 6.8% | 49.6% | 452 | — |
| Harton Primary School | 70% | 6.2% | 40.2% | 636 | 0.7 miles |
| St Oswald's Catholic Primary School, South Shields | 68% | 5% | 38.3% | 226 | 0.7 miles |
| Mortimer Primary School | 54% | 4.5% | 11.8% | 588 | 0.9 miles |
| Ashley Academy | 45% | 5.6% | 43.3% | 396 | 0.9 miles |
| St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, South Shields | 70% | 3.8% | 7.2% | 211 | 0.9 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)
- 49.63%
- English as an additional language
- 4.1%
- Overall absence
- 6.75%
- Persistent absence
- 19.49%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Harton Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · South Shields
-
St Oswald's Catholic Primary School, South Shields0.7 miles
Primary · South Shields
-
Mortimer Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · South Shields
-
Ashley Academy0.9 miles
Primary · South Shields
-
St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, South Shields0.9 miles
Primary · South Shields
Other schools in South Shields
Ridgeway Primary Academy ranks 16th of the 18 ranked primary schools in South Shields.
- Ashley Academy Primary
- Biddick Hall Infants' School Primary
- Biddick Hall Junior School Primary
- Forest View Primary Primary
- Hadrian Primary School Primary
- Harton Primary School Primary
- Holy Trinity Church of England Academy (South Shields) Primary
- Laygate Community School Primary
- Lord Blyton Primary School Primary
- Marine Park Primary School Primary
- Monkton Academy Primary
- Monkton Infants' School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Ridgeway Primary Academy teach?
- Ridgeway Primary Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in South Shields.
- Who is the headteacher of Ridgeway Primary Academy?
- The headteacher of Ridgeway Primary Academy is Mr Alex Golden, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ridgeway Primary Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ridgeway Primary 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 Ridgeway Primary Academy?
- Ridgeway Primary Academy has 452 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Ridgeway Primary Academy full?
- Ridgeway Primary Academy has capacity for 472 pupils and 452 on roll (96%), 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 Ridgeway Primary Academy a faith school?
- No. Ridgeway Primary Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Ridgeway Primary Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Ridgeway Primary Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Ridgeway Primary Academy?
- Ridgeway Primary Academy is part of TYNE COAST ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Ridgeway Primary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 52% in 2022/23 and 51% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ridgeway Primary Academy rank locally?
- Ridgeway Primary Academy ranked 32nd of 38 primary schools in South Tyneside for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 28% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ridgeway Primary Academy's absence rate?
- Ridgeway Primary Academy's overall absence rate is 6.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ridgeway Primary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ridgeway Primary 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.