Biddick Academy
Biddick Lane, Washington, NE38 8AL
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- NORTH EAST LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Miss Kate Morris
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- North East Learning Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Washington and Gateshead South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,100
- Pupils on roll
- 1,002
- URN
- 139839
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01915111600
About this school
Biddick Academy is a secondary academy in Washington. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,002 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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 227 | 222 | 213 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.5 | 43.9 | 42.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.47 -0.65 to -0.28 | -0.25 -0.44 to -0.06 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 36% | 45.5% | 39% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 65.3% | 59.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 16% | 28.4% | 46% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.8 | 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 Biddick 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 | Sunderland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42.5 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 43.9 | 38.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.5 | 38.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,138 |
| 2023/24 | 1,131 |
| 2024/25 | 1,069 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Biddick Academy compares
Biddick Academy ranked 12th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 47% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.5 | 10.4% | 31% | 1,002 | — |
| St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington | 48.9 | 7.8% | 16.9% | 1,527 | 0.3 miles |
| Oxclose Community Academy | 41.8 | 11% | 38% | 1,029 | 1.1 miles |
| Washington Academy | 33.1 | 13% | 55.7% | 627 | 1.2 miles |
| Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy | 46.6 | 7.9% | 32.1% | 1,334 | 2.1 miles |
| Park View School | 46.4 | 7.3% | 24.2% | 1,631 | 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
-
Graded inspection report10 March 2026
- 17 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 30.96%
- English as an additional language
- 2.1%
- Overall absence
- 10.36%
- Persistent absence
- 28.88%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington0.3 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Oxclose Community Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Washington Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
-
Park View School3.2 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
Other schools in Washington
- Oxclose Community Academy Secondary
- St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington Secondary
- Washington Academy Secondary
- Oxclose Nursery School Nursery
- Usworth Colliery Nursery School Nursery
- Albany Village Primary School Primary
- Barmston Village Primary School Primary
- Biddick Primary School Primary
- Blackfell Primary School Primary
- Fatfield Academy Primary
- George Washington Primary School Primary
- Holley Park Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Biddick Academy teach?
- Biddick Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Washington.
- Who is the headteacher of Biddick Academy?
- The headteacher of Biddick Academy is Miss Kate Morris, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Biddick Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Biddick 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 Biddick Academy?
- Biddick Academy has 1,002 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Biddick Academy full?
- Biddick Academy has capacity for 1,100 pupils and 1,002 on roll (91%), 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 Biddick Academy a faith school?
- No. Biddick Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Biddick Academy a selective school?
- No. Biddick Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Biddick Academy?
- Biddick Academy is part of NORTH EAST LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Biddick Academy have?
- The schools register lists Biddick Academy's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Biddick Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.5 in 2022/23 and 42.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Biddick Academy rank locally?
- Biddick Academy ranked 12th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 47% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Biddick Academy's absence rate?
- Biddick Academy's overall absence rate is 10.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Biddick Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Biddick 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.