NCEA Castle School
Academy Road, Ashington, NE63 9FZ
- Phase
- Academies
- School type
- Academy special converter
- Ages
- 2 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- NORTHUMBERLAND CHURCH OF ENGLAND ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Patrick Ford-Hutchinson
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Diocese of Newcastle
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Blyth and Ashington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 150
- Pupils on roll
- 158
- URN
- 145957
- Local authority
- Northumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01670844322
About this school
NCEA Castle School is a special academy in Ashington. It teaches children aged 2 to 19 and has 158 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected NCEA Castle School, 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 9 | 5 | 7 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | - | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | - | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | - | 0% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | - | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | - | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
| Reading progress | -4.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -3.20 | - | - |
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.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 5 | 11 | 3 |
| Attainment 8 score | - | - | - |
| Progress 8 score | - | - | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | - | - | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | - | - | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | - | - | - |
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 NCEA Castle School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Northumberland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0% | 54.6% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | — | 52.9% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 56% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 118 |
| 2023/24 | 138 |
| 2024/25 | 157 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 57.64%
- English as an additional language
- 3.8%
- Overall absence
- 8.3%
- Persistent absence
- 25.6%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Rosewood Independent School1.2 miles
Special schools · Morpeth
-
Gust Independent School1.3 miles
Special schools · Ashington
-
Cleaswell Hill School2.3 miles
Special schools · Choppington
-
The Dales School3.4 miles
Special schools · Blyth
-
Gilbert Ward Academy3.8 miles
Free Schools · Blyth
Other schools in Ashington
- Gust Independent School Special schools
- Bothal Academy Primary
- Central Academy Primary
- NCEA Bishop's Primary School Primary
- NCEA James Knott CofE Primary School Primary
- NCEA Thomas Bewick C of E Primary School Primary
- St Aidan's Catholic Primary School, Ashington Primary
- Ashington Academy Secondary
- NCEA Duke's Secondary School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does NCEA Castle School teach?
- NCEA Castle School teaches children aged 2 to 19. It is a special school in Ashington.
- Who is the headteacher of NCEA Castle School?
- The headteacher of NCEA Castle School is Mr Patrick Ford-Hutchinson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has NCEA Castle School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected NCEA Castle School, 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 NCEA Castle School?
- NCEA Castle School has 158 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 19.
- Is NCEA Castle School full?
- NCEA Castle School has capacity for 150 pupils and 158 on roll (105%), so it is at or above 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 NCEA Castle School a faith school?
- No. NCEA Castle School has no designated religious character.
- Is NCEA Castle School part of an academy trust?
- NCEA Castle School is part of NORTHUMBERLAND CHURCH OF ENGLAND 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 NCEA Castle School have?
- The schools register lists NCEA Castle School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have NCEA Castle School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is NCEA Castle School's absence rate?
- NCEA Castle School's overall absence rate is 8.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are NCEA Castle School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, NCEA Castle School'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.