Studio West
West Denton Way, West Denton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE5 2SZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Studio schools
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- NORTHERN LEADERS TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Andrew Dryden
- Constituency
- Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 640
- Pupils on roll
- 496
- URN
- 140965
- Local authority
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01914813710
About this school
Studio West is a secondary school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 496 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 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- 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 | 98 | 94 | 103 |
| Attainment 8 score | 27.7 | 28.4 | 30.9 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.46 -1.74 to -1.17 | -1.54 -1.83 to -1.25 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 5% | 22.3% | 28.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 19% | 34% | 41.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 7% | 3.2% | 6.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.6 |
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 Studio West 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 | 27.7 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 28.4 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 30.9 | 38 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 573 |
| 2023/24 | 555 |
| 2024/25 | 546 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Studio West compares
Studio West ranked 12th of 12 secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 23% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 30.9 | 13% | 63.2% | 496 | — |
| Callerton Academy | — | 13.5% | 59.7% | 684 | 1.0 miles |
| St Cuthbert's High School | 49 | 8.1% | 40.3% | 1,224 | 1.4 miles |
| Walbottle Academy | 46.6 | 12.3% | 48.5% | 1,722 | 1.7 miles |
| Sacred Heart Catholic High School | 52.1 | 9.5% | 37.8% | 1,424 | 1.8 miles |
| Kenton School | 38.7 | 12.9% | 64.2% | 1,589 | 1.8 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)
- 63.2%
- English as an additional language
- 7.1%
- Overall absence
- 12.98%
- Persistent absence
- 37.07%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Callerton Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
St Cuthbert's High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Walbottle Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Sacred Heart Catholic High School1.8 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Kenton School1.8 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Other schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Studio West ranks 15th of the 15 ranked secondary schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Benfield School Secondary
- Callerton Academy Secondary
- George Stephenson High School Secondary
- Gosforth Academy Secondary
- Jesmond Park Academy Secondary
- Kenton School Secondary
- Longbenton High School Secondary
- North Gosforth Academy Secondary
- Sacred Heart Catholic High School Secondary
- St Cuthbert's High School Secondary
- St Mary's Catholic School Secondary
- Walbottle Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Studio West teach?
- Studio West teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a secondary school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Who is the headteacher of Studio West?
- The headteacher of Studio West is Mr Andrew Dryden, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Studio West last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Studio West, 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 Studio West?
- Studio West has 496 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is Studio West full?
- Studio West has capacity for 640 pupils and 496 on roll (78%), 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 Studio West a faith school?
- No. Studio West has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Studio West?
- Studio West is part of NORTHERN LEADERS TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Studio West's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 27.7 in 2022/23 and 30.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Studio West rank locally?
- Studio West ranked 12th of 12 secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 23% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Studio West's absence rate?
- Studio West's overall absence rate is 13% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Studio West's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Studio West'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.