Burnside Academy Inspires
Burnside Estate, Houghton le Spring, DH4 5HB
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- INSPIRE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs L Kelly
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Inspire Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Houghton and Sunderland South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 236
- Pupils on roll
- 174
- URN
- 142996
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01915120466
About this school
Burnside Academy Inspires is a primary academy in Houghton le Spring. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 174 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's most recent visit was a short inspection on 22 October 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 23 | 18 | 14 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 70% | 56% | 57% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 78% | 61% | 64% |
| Expected standard in maths | 70% | 61% | 57% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 70% | 61% | 64% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 101.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 101.0 | 97.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.60 | - | - |
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 Burnside Academy Inspires 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 | 70% | 60.4% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 56% | 63.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 57% | 63% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 139 |
| 2023/24 | 149 |
| 2024/25 | 157 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Burnside Academy Inspires compares
Burnside Academy Inspires ranked 60th of 75 primary schools in Sunderland 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 64% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57% | 4.8% | 47.6% | 174 | — |
| Newbottle Primary Academy | 68% | 4.4% | 14.4% | 437 | 0.5 miles |
| Bernard Gilpin Primary School | 87% | 3.2% | 22.5% | 417 | 0.7 miles |
| St Michael's Catholic Primary School, Houghton | 87% | 3.4% | 6% | 193 | 0.8 miles |
| Dubmire Primary | 63% | 5.3% | 32.8% | 479 | 0.8 miles |
| Gillas Lane Primary Academy | 15% | 7.6% | 64.5% | 134 | 1.1 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)
- 47.55%
- English as an additional language
- 7.6%
- Overall absence
- 4.8%
- Persistent absence
- 6.56%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Newbottle Primary Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Houghton le Spring
-
Bernard Gilpin Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Houghton le Spring
-
St Michael's Catholic Primary School, Houghton0.8 miles
Primary · Houghton le Spring
-
Dubmire Primary0.8 miles
Primary · Houghton le Spring
-
Gillas Lane Primary Academy1.1 miles
Primary · Houghton le Spring
Other schools in Houghton le Spring
Burnside Academy Inspires ranks 15th of the 17 ranked primary schools in Houghton le Spring.
- Barnwell Academy Primary
- Bernard Gilpin Primary School Primary
- Bournmoor Primary School Primary
- Dubmire Primary Primary
- Easington Lane Primary School Primary
- East Rainton Primary School Primary
- Eppleton Academy Primary School Primary
- Gillas Lane Primary Academy Primary
- Hetton Lyons Primary School Primary
- Hetton Primary School Primary
- New Penshaw Academy Primary
- Newbottle Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Burnside Academy Inspires teach?
- Burnside Academy Inspires teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Houghton le Spring.
- Who is the headteacher of Burnside Academy Inspires?
- The headteacher of Burnside Academy Inspires is Mrs L Kelly, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Burnside Academy Inspires last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Burnside Academy Inspires, 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 Burnside Academy Inspires?
- Burnside Academy Inspires has 174 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Burnside Academy Inspires full?
- Burnside Academy Inspires has capacity for 236 pupils and 174 on roll (74%), 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 Burnside Academy Inspires a faith school?
- No. Burnside Academy Inspires has no designated religious character.
- Does Burnside Academy Inspires have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Burnside Academy Inspires as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Burnside Academy Inspires?
- Burnside Academy Inspires is part of INSPIRE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Burnside Academy Inspires's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 70% 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 Burnside Academy Inspires rank locally?
- Burnside Academy Inspires ranked 60th of 75 primary schools in Sunderland 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 64% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Burnside Academy Inspires's absence rate?
- Burnside Academy Inspires's overall absence rate is 4.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Burnside Academy Inspires's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Burnside Academy Inspires'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 2 July 2026.