New GCSE performance figures have shone a light on the Tyne and Wear secondary schools that have been guiding their pupils to exam success.
The Government’s updated preliminary performance figures for state-funded secondary schools are out now. Using this data, we’ve created a league table ranking the top state secondary schools across Tyne and Wear, including the North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Newcastle, Sunderland, and Gateshead council areas, for the 2023/24 school year.
It is primarily based it on their Progress 8 scores. This is a unique figure based on GCSE results and other student achievements, which demonstrates how well a secondary school’s pupils developed their skills compared to peers starting from similar primary schools nationwide. While any score above 0 is considered positive, we’ve made sure to only include schools with a score 0.2 or above - considered ‘above average’.
We’ve also checked that all schools included on the list had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or above before this measure was recently dropped, or, if they’ve been inspected more recently, had passing marks across the board. This means that the quality of education, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and safeguarding all met or exceeded government standards the last time the school was inspected.
Here are the 11 schools from across the county that came out on top:
1. Kings Priory School
Kings Priory is an all-through academy in Tynemouth, North Shields. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, its secondary pupils had an incredible Progress 8 score of 0.84 - earning it a spot in the top ‘well above average’ band. | Google
2. Cardinal Hume Catholic School
Cardinal Hulme is a Catholic secondary academy and sixth form in Gateshead. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted - and was also last year’s top secondary school for Tyne and Wear. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a fantastic Progress 8 score of 0.71 - placing it in the ‘well above average’ band. | Google
3. Gosforth Academy
This is a high school which takes pupils from the age of 13, in Gosforth, Newcastle. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a great Progress 8 score of 0.64. While this would usually be considered ‘well above average’, banding is not applied because pupils begin after the age of 11. | Google
4. St Mary's Catholic School
St Mary’s is a Catholic secondary academy and sixth form in Newcastle, formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, it had a Progress 8 score of 0.56 - placing it in the ‘well above average’ band. | Google