Whale Hill Primary School
Sandsend Road, Eston, Middlesbrough, TS6 8AD
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- STEEL RIVER ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher Sandra Marsden
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Redcar
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 530
- Pupils on roll
- 461
- URN
- 147393
- Local authority
- Redcar and Cleveland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01642454339
About this school
Whale Hill Primary School is a primary academy in Middlesbrough. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 461 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Whale Hill Primary 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
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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Strong standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 71 | 70 | 54 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 76% | 74% | 85% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 11% | 6% | 17% |
| Expected standard in reading | 86% | 86% | 93% |
| Expected standard in maths | 92% | 90% | 94% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 86% | 87% | 94% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 106.0 | 110.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 109.0 | 109.0 | 113.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +4.90 | - | - |
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 Whale Hill Primary 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 | Redcar and Cleveland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 76% | 60.4% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 74% | 61.7% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 85% | 61.6% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 507 |
| 2023/24 | 482 |
| 2024/25 | 465 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Whale Hill Primary School compares
Whale Hill Primary School ranked 3rd of 43 primary schools in Redcar and Cleveland 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 66% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 85% | 4.8% | 55.1% | 461 | — |
| Caedmon Primary School | 64% | 7.2% | 69.9% | 215 | 0.3 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School | 44% | 5.7% | 63.2% | 198 | 0.5 miles |
| Bankfields Primary School | 85% | 5.5% | 55% | 257 | 0.7 miles |
| Grangetown Primary School | 58% | 5.3% | 74.3% | 283 | 0.7 miles |
| Teesville Academy | 76% | 5.9% | 34.1% | 314 | 0.9 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report20 January 2026
- 19 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 55.09%
- English as an additional language
- 1.3%
- Overall absence
- 4.76%
- Persistent absence
- 11.29%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Caedmon Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Middlesbrough
-
St Mary's Catholic Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Middlesbrough
-
Bankfields Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Middlesbrough
-
Grangetown Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Middlesbrough
-
Teesville Academy0.9 miles
Primary · Middlesbrough
Other schools in Middlesbrough
Whale Hill Primary School ranks 4th of the 57 ranked primary schools in Middlesbrough.
- Abingdon Primary School Primary
- Acklam Whin Primary School Primary
- Archibald Primary School Primary
- Ayresome Primary School Primary
- Bankfields Primary School Primary
- Beech Grove Primary School Primary
- Berwick Hills Primary School Primary
- Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Brambles Primary Academy Primary
- Breckon Hill Primary School Primary
- Caedmon Primary School Primary
- Carlton and Faceby Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Whale Hill Primary School teach?
- Whale Hill Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Middlesbrough.
- Who is the headteacher of Whale Hill Primary School?
- The headteacher of Whale Hill Primary School is Headteacher Sandra Marsden, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Whale Hill Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Whale Hill Primary 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 Whale Hill Primary School?
- Whale Hill Primary School has 461 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Whale Hill Primary School full?
- Whale Hill Primary School has capacity for 530 pupils and 461 on roll (87%), 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 Whale Hill Primary School a faith school?
- No. Whale Hill Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Whale Hill Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Whale Hill Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Is Whale Hill Primary School part of an academy trust?
- Whale Hill Primary School is part of STEEL RIVER ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Whale Hill Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 76% 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 Whale Hill Primary School compare with other schools in Redcar and Cleveland?
- Whale Hill Primary School ranked 3rd of 43 primary schools in Redcar and Cleveland 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 66% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Whale Hill Primary School's absence rate?
- Whale Hill Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Whale Hill Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Whale Hill Primary 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.