Washington Academy
Spout Lane, Washington, NE37 2AA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CONSILIUM ACADEMIES
- Executive Head Teacher
- Mrs Victoria Carter
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Consilium Academies
- SEN provision
- MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Washington and Gateshead South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 627
- URN
- 144937
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01915804956
About this school
Washington Academy is a secondary academy in Washington. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 627 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Washington 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
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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 139 | 154 | 90 |
| Attainment 8 score | 33.3 | 30.9 | 33.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.91 -1.15 to -0.67 | -0.99 -1.22 to -0.76 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 12% | 16.2% | 22.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 32% | 31.8% | 38.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 23% | 33.1% | 25.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.9 |
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 Washington 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 | 33.3 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 30.9 | 38.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 33.1 | 38.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 661 |
| 2023/24 | 660 |
| 2024/25 | 594 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Washington Academy compares
Washington Academy ranked 17th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 24% 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 | 33.1 | 13% | 55.7% | 627 | — |
| Biddick Academy | 42.5 | 10.4% | 31% | 1,002 | 1.2 miles |
| Oxclose Community Academy | 41.8 | 11% | 38% | 1,029 | 1.3 miles |
| St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington | 48.9 | 7.8% | 16.9% | 1,527 | 1.5 miles |
| Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy | 46.6 | 7.9% | 32.1% | 1,334 | 2.2 miles |
| Cardinal Hume Catholic School, Gateshead | 53.2 | 6.6% | 24.2% | 1,505 | 2.8 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report21 April 2026
- 6 March 2024
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 55.72%
- English as an additional language
- 3.7%
- Overall absence
- 12.97%
- Persistent absence
- 37.44%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Biddick Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Oxclose Community Academy1.3 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington1.5 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
-
Cardinal Hume Catholic School, Gateshead2.8 miles
Secondary · Gateshead
Other schools in Washington
- Biddick Academy Secondary
- Oxclose Community Academy Secondary
- St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington 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 ages does Washington Academy teach?
- Washington Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Washington.
- Who is the executive head teacher of Washington Academy?
- The executive head teacher of Washington Academy is Mrs Victoria Carter, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Washington Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Washington 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 Washington Academy?
- Washington Academy has 627 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Washington Academy full?
- Washington Academy has capacity for 900 pupils and 627 on roll (70%), 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 Washington Academy a faith school?
- No. Washington Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Washington Academy a selective school?
- No. Washington Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Washington Academy part of an academy trust?
- Washington Academy is part of CONSILIUM ACADEMIES. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Washington Academy have?
- The schools register lists Washington Academy's special educational needs provision as: MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Washington Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 33.3 in 2022/23 and 33.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Washington Academy compare with other schools in Sunderland?
- Washington Academy ranked 17th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 24% 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 Washington Academy's absence rate?
- Washington Academy's overall absence rate is 13% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Washington Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Washington 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 15 July 2026.