Valley Road Academy
Corporation Road, Hendon, Sunderland, SR2 8PL
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- IRIS LEARNING TRUST
- Principal
- Mrs Rebekah Bowman
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Sunderland Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 344
- URN
- 144221
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01915002999
About this school
Valley Road Academy is a primary academy in Sunderland. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 344 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 19 October 2022, 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 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 62 | 54 | 46 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 89% | 78% | 85% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 8% | 11% | 15% |
| Expected standard in reading | 89% | 80% | 89% |
| Expected standard in maths | 92% | 81% | 87% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 87% | 72% | 87% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 110.0 | 109.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 107.0 | 106.0 | 108.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.20 | - | - |
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 Valley Road 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 | 89% | 60.4% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 78% | 63.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 85% | 63% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 386 |
| 2023/24 | 405 |
| 2024/25 | 360 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Valley Road Academy compares
Valley Road Academy ranked 9th of 75 primary schools in Sunderland for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 94% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 69% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 85% | 4.6% | 38.7% | 344 | — |
| Grangetown Primary School | 63% | 7.3% | 34% | 302 | 0.5 miles |
| Hudson Road Primary School | 68% | 4.5% | 31.8% | 345 | 0.6 miles |
| Hill View Junior Academy | 81% | 4.3% | 16.2% | 451 | 0.7 miles |
| Hill View Infant Academy | — | 4.4% | 9.4% | 439 | 1.0 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Sunderland | 95% | 4.4% | 6.9% | 472 | 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)
- 38.66%
- English as an additional language
- 20%
- Overall absence
- 4.6%
- Persistent absence
- 19.23%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Grangetown Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Sunderland
-
Hudson Road Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Sunderland
-
Hill View Junior Academy0.7 miles
Primary · Sunderland
-
Hill View Infant Academy1.0 miles
Primary · Sunderland
-
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Sunderland1.1 miles
Primary · Sunderland
Other schools in Sunderland
Valley Road Academy ranks 6th of the 43 ranked primary schools in Sunderland.
- Barnes Infant Academy Primary
- Barnes Junior School Primary
- Benedict Biscop Church of England Academy Primary
- Bexhill Academy Primary
- Broadway Junior School Primary
- Castletown Primary School Primary
- Cleadon Church of England Academy Primary
- Dame Dorothy Primary School Primary
- Diamond Hall Infant Academy Primary
- Diamond Hall Junior Academy Primary
- East Herrington Primary Academy Primary
- English Martyrs' Catholic Primary School, Sunderland Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Valley Road Academy teach?
- Valley Road Academy teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Sunderland.
- Who is the principal of Valley Road Academy?
- The principal of Valley Road Academy is Mrs Rebekah Bowman, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Valley Road Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Valley Road 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 Valley Road Academy?
- Valley Road Academy has 344 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Valley Road Academy full?
- Valley Road Academy has capacity for 420 pupils and 344 on roll (82%), 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 Valley Road Academy a faith school?
- No. Valley Road Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Valley Road Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Valley Road Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Valley Road Academy?
- Valley Road Academy is part of IRIS 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 Valley Road Academy have?
- The schools register lists Valley Road Academy's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Valley Road Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 89% in 2022/23 and 85% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Valley Road Academy rank locally?
- Valley Road Academy ranked 9th of 75 primary schools in Sunderland for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 94% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 69% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Valley Road Academy's absence rate?
- Valley Road Academy's overall absence rate is 4.6% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Valley Road Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Valley Road 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 10 July 2026.