West Newcastle Academy
Off Armstrong Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE4 8QP
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- WEST NEWCASTLE ACADEMY
- Headteacher
- Mr Benjamin Wassall
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 196
- Pupils on roll
- 181
- URN
- 139729
- Local authority
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01912739477
About this school
West Newcastle Academy is a primary academy in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 181 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
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 28 | 25 | 28 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 36% | 52% | 57% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 11% | 4% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 57% | 60% | 75% |
| Expected standard in maths | 36% | 72% | 61% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 54% | 68% | 64% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 102.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 99.0 | 102.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.10 | - | - |
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 West Newcastle 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 | Newcastle upon Tyne average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 36% | 59.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 52% | 60.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 57% | 62.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 198 |
| 2023/24 | 196 |
| 2024/25 | 200 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How West Newcastle Academy compares
West Newcastle Academy ranked 52nd of 68 primary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57% | 8.5% | 50.8% | 181 | — |
| St Johns Primary School | 50% | 3.9% | 71.6% | 226 | 0.2 miles |
| Atkinson Road Primary Academy | 72% | 5.3% | 73% | 395 | 0.2 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Benwell | 68% | 5.3% | 51.8% | 224 | 0.3 miles |
| Canning Street Primary School | 47% | 8.4% | 69.5% | 453 | 0.3 miles |
| Bridgewater Primary School | 64% | 4.4% | 55.1% | 466 | 0.6 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 50.81%
- English as an additional language
- 36%
- Overall absence
- 8.51%
- Persistent absence
- 28.65%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Johns Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Atkinson Road Primary Academy0.2 miles
Primary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Benwell0.3 miles
Primary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Canning Street Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Bridgewater Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Other schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
West Newcastle Academy ranks 73rd of the 94 ranked primary schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Amberley Primary School Primary
- Archbishop Runcie CofE First School Primary
- Archibald First School Primary
- Atkinson Road Primary Academy Primary
- Backworth Park Primary School Primary
- Balliol Primary School Primary
- Balliol Primary School Primary
- Beech Hill Primary School Primary
- Belsay Primary School Primary
- Benton Dene Primary School Primary
- Benton Park Primary School Primary
- Bridgewater Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does West Newcastle Academy teach?
- West Newcastle Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Who is the headteacher of West Newcastle Academy?
- The headteacher of West Newcastle Academy is Mr Benjamin Wassall, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was West Newcastle Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected West Newcastle 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 West Newcastle Academy?
- West Newcastle Academy has 181 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is West Newcastle Academy full?
- West Newcastle Academy has capacity for 196 pupils and 181 on roll (92%), 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 West Newcastle Academy a faith school?
- No. West Newcastle Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does West Newcastle Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records West Newcastle Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs West Newcastle Academy?
- West Newcastle Academy is part of WEST NEWCASTLE ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have West Newcastle Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 36% in 2022/23 and 57% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does West Newcastle Academy rank locally?
- West Newcastle Academy ranked 52nd of 68 primary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is West Newcastle Academy's absence rate?
- West Newcastle Academy's overall absence rate is 8.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are West Newcastle Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, West Newcastle 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.