Hetton Academy
North Road, Hetton-le-Hole, Houghton le Spring, DH5 9JZ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- NORTHERN EDUCATION TRUST
- Acting Head Teacher
- Mrs Vicky Pinkney
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Northern Education Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Houghton and Sunderland South
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 681
- URN
- 149235
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01915623322
About this school
Hetton Academy is a secondary academy in Houghton le Spring. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 681 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
- Good
- 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 | 111 | 106 | 116 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.1 | 50.1 | 51.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.41 -0.67 to -0.14 | +0.18 -0.09 to +0.45 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 46% | 65.1% | 56.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 76.4% | 79.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 32% | 43.4% | 50.9% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 4.7 | 4.8 |
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 Hetton 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 | 42.1 | 37.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.1 | 38.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 51.8 | 38.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 634 |
| 2023/24 | 652 |
| 2024/25 | 671 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Hetton Academy compares
Hetton Academy ranked 1st of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 51.8 | 10% | 44.4% | 681 | — |
| Kepier | 43.6 | 10% | 37.2% | 1,131 | 1.6 miles |
| Belmont Community School | 53.4 | 8.1% | 33.5% | 887 | 3.5 miles |
| Farringdon Community Academy | 44.6 | 11.6% | 45.2% | 712 | 4.0 miles |
| Seaham High School | 45.8 | 8.6% | 42.1% | 1,095 | 4.1 miles |
| Venerable Bede Church of England Academy | 44.1 | 12.7% | 32.3% | 738 | 4.8 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 44.41%
- English as an additional language
- 3.6%
- Overall absence
- 9.96%
- Persistent absence
- 28.76%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Kepier1.6 miles
Secondary · Houghton le Spring
-
Belmont Community School3.5 miles
Secondary · Durham
-
Farringdon Community Academy4.0 miles
Secondary · Sunderland
-
Seaham High School4.1 miles
Secondary · Seaham
-
Venerable Bede Church of England Academy4.8 miles
Secondary · Sunderland
Other schools in Houghton le Spring
- Kepier Secondary
- Hetton Lyons Nursery School Nursery
- Houghton Le Spring Nursery School Nursery
- Barnwell Academy Primary
- Bernard Gilpin Primary School Primary
- Bournmoor Primary School Primary
- Burnside Academy Inspires Primary
- Dubmire Primary Primary
- Easington Lane Primary School Primary
- East Rainton Primary School Primary
- Eppleton Academy Primary School Primary
- Gillas Lane Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Hetton Academy teach?
- Hetton Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Houghton le Spring.
- Who is the acting head teacher of Hetton Academy?
- The acting head teacher of Hetton Academy is Mrs Vicky Pinkney, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Hetton Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Hetton 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 Hetton Academy?
- Hetton Academy has 681 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Hetton Academy full?
- Hetton Academy has capacity for 900 pupils and 681 on roll (76%), 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 Hetton Academy a faith school?
- No. Hetton Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Hetton Academy a selective school?
- No. Hetton Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Hetton Academy?
- Hetton Academy is part of NORTHERN EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Hetton Academy have?
- The schools register lists Hetton 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 Hetton Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.1 in 2022/23 and 51.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Hetton Academy rank locally?
- Hetton Academy ranked 1st of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 8% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Hetton Academy's absence rate?
- Hetton Academy's overall absence rate is 10% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Hetton Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Hetton 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.