Thorp Academy
Main Road, Ryton, NE40 3AH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- NORTHERN EDUCATION TRUST
- Executive Principal
- Miss Joanna Macaulay
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Northern Education Trust
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, VI - Visual Impairment, HI - Hearing Impairment, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, PD - Physical Disability, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Blaydon and Consett
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,740
- Pupils on roll
- 1,442
- URN
- 141185
- Local authority
- Gateshead
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01914132113
About this school
Thorp Academy is a secondary academy in Ryton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,442 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Thorp Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 19 June 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 226 | 215 | 251 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.8 | 47.0 | 47.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.01 -0.17 to +0.20 | -0.12 -0.31 to +0.07 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 54% | 53.5% | 54.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 75% | 74% | 75.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 74% | 52.1% | 39% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.3 |
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 Thorp 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 | 48.8 | 35.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47 | 39.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.2 | 36.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,418 |
| 2023/24 | 1,460 |
| 2024/25 | 1,496 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Thorp Academy compares
Thorp Academy ranked 4th of 8 secondary schools in Gateshead for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 66% 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 | 47.2 | 10.3% | 25.7% | 1,442 | — |
| Walbottle Academy | 46.6 | 12.3% | 48.5% | 1,722 | 2.1 miles |
| St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon | 51.9 | 5.2% | 18.7% | 1,401 | 2.2 miles |
| Prudhoe Community High School | 46.6 | 11.2% | 20.6% | 680 | 3.2 miles |
| Studio West | 30.9 | 13% | 63.2% | 496 | 3.4 miles |
| St Cuthbert's High School | 49 | 8.1% | 40.3% | 1,224 | 4.0 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)
- 25.68%
- English as an additional language
- 2.1%
- Overall absence
- 10.29%
- Persistent absence
- 25.76%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Walbottle Academy2.1 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon2.2 miles
Secondary · Blaydon-on-Tyne
-
Prudhoe Community High School3.2 miles
Secondary · Prudhoe
-
Studio West3.4 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
St Cuthbert's High School4.0 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Other schools in Ryton
- Crookhill Community Primary School Primary
- Emmaville Primary School Primary
- Greenside Primary School Primary
- Ryton Community Infant School Primary
- Ryton Junior School Primary
- St Agnes' Catholic Primary School, Crawcrook Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Thorp Academy teach?
- Thorp Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Ryton.
- Who is the executive principal of Thorp Academy?
- The executive principal of Thorp Academy is Miss Joanna Macaulay, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Thorp Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Thorp 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 many pupils are at Thorp Academy?
- Thorp Academy has 1,442 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Thorp Academy full?
- Thorp Academy has capacity for 1,740 pupils and 1,442 on roll (83%), 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 Thorp Academy a faith school?
- No. Thorp Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Thorp Academy a selective school?
- No. Thorp Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Thorp Academy part of an academy trust?
- Thorp Academy is part of NORTHERN EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Thorp Academy have?
- The schools register lists Thorp Academy's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; VI - Visual Impairment; HI - Hearing Impairment; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment; PD - Physical Disability; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Thorp Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48.8 in 2022/23 and 47.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Thorp Academy compare with other schools in Gateshead?
- Thorp Academy ranked 4th of 8 secondary schools in Gateshead for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 66% 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 Thorp Academy's absence rate?
- Thorp Academy's overall absence rate is 10.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Thorp Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Thorp 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 7 July 2026.