Walker Riverside Academy
Waverdale Avenue, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE6 4AW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- TYNE COAST ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Michael Collier
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Tyne Coast Academy Trust
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,301
- Pupils on roll
- 1,101
- URN
- 145528
- Local authority
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01912958660
About this school
Walker Riverside Academy is a secondary academy in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,101 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 216 | 212 | 219 |
| Attainment 8 score | 33.4 | 37.0 | 35.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.21 -1.40 to -1.01 | -0.92 -1.12 to -0.72 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 19% | 22.6% | 21.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 40% | 47.6% | 47.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 44% | 32.5% | 41.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.1 |
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 Walker Riverside 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 | Newcastle upon Tyne average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 33.4 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 37 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 35.5 | 38 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,158 |
| 2023/24 | 1,109 |
| 2024/25 | 1,123 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Walker Riverside Academy compares
Walker Riverside Academy ranked 8th of 12 secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 28% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 35.5 | 12.1% | 68.1% | 1,101 | — |
| Benfield School | 33.5 | 14.3% | 68.3% | 819 | 0.8 miles |
| Burnside College | 44.2 | 9% | 37.7% | 995 | 1.4 miles |
| Hebburn Comprehensive School | 44.2 | 10.8% | 49.3% | 857 | 1.6 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic Academy | 45.5 | 9.3% | 23.4% | 1,377 | 1.7 miles |
| Jesmond Park Academy | 51.4 | 8.1% | 36.9% | 2,092 | 1.9 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)
- 68.12%
- English as an additional language
- 16.7%
- Overall absence
- 12.09%
- Persistent absence
- 31.79%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Benfield School0.8 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Burnside College1.4 miles
Secondary · Wallsend
-
Hebburn Comprehensive School1.6 miles
Secondary · Hebburn
-
St Joseph's Catholic Academy1.7 miles
Secondary · Hebburn
-
Jesmond Park Academy1.9 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Other schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Walker Riverside Academy ranks 12th 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
- Studio West Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Walker Riverside Academy teach?
- Walker Riverside Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Who is the headteacher of Walker Riverside Academy?
- The headteacher of Walker Riverside Academy is Mr Michael Collier, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Walker Riverside Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Walker Riverside 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 Walker Riverside Academy?
- Walker Riverside Academy has 1,101 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Walker Riverside Academy full?
- Walker Riverside Academy has capacity for 1,301 pupils and 1,101 on roll (85%), 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 Walker Riverside Academy a faith school?
- No. Walker Riverside Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Walker Riverside Academy a selective school?
- No. Walker Riverside Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Walker Riverside Academy?
- Walker Riverside Academy is part of TYNE COAST ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Walker Riverside Academy have?
- The schools register lists Walker Riverside Academy's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Walker Riverside Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 33.4 in 2022/23 and 35.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Walker Riverside Academy rank locally?
- Walker Riverside Academy ranked 8th of 12 secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 28% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Walker Riverside Academy's absence rate?
- Walker Riverside Academy's overall absence rate is 12.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Walker Riverside Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Walker Riverside 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.