Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy

About Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy

Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy in Gateshead was rated Good by Ofsted in its most recent graded inspection in November 2022, a significant improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2019. The school received Good across all five categories inspected: overall effectiveness, quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management, with its sixth form provision also rated Good. On the headline Progress 8 measure, the school scored -0.28, placing it in the 'Below average' banding nationally. This is slightly below the Gateshead local authority average of -0.14, though it ranks 5th out of 7 secondary schools in the borough. The most informative single exam metric is the Attainment 8 score of 45.1, which represents the average grade achieved across eight key subjects. For context, 50.8% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths, while 67.9% achieved a grade 4 or above in these core subjects.

At Key Stage 5, the school's sixth form offers a solid academic pathway with 93 pupils in the cohort. The average A-level grade achieved was a C+, with students earning 32.99 points per entry. The best three A-levels averaged 33.88 points, again equating to a C+ grade. However, the value added score for the sixth form was -0.34, which is rated as 'Below average' and suggests students make less progress than similar pupils nationally. The proportion of students achieving AAB or higher in at least two facilitating subjects was 14.9%. At Key Stage 4, the EBacc average point score was 3.71, and only 9.6% of pupils entered the EBacc suite of subjects, which is notably low. The school's Progress 8 scores show particular weakness in the EBacc subjects (-0.48) and open elements (-0.3), though maths progress (-0.04) was close to the national average. The school's national ranking places it in the bottom 50% of schools by Progress 8, at the 69.6th percentile.

The school is oversubscribed for Year 7 entry in 2025/26, with 460 applications for 262 places and 240 offers made to first-preference applicants, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.76. Facilities include art studios, science labs, a swimming pool, tennis courts, astro turf, a gymnasium, and a sixth form centre. The school supports a wide range of special educational needs, including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 31% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively disadvantaged community. Extracurricular offerings include football, rugby, cross country, martial arts, cricket, dance, swimming, hockey, and rounders, plus clubs for art, drama, choir, chess, science, Duke of Edinburgh, Young Enterprise, and debate. This is a large secondary school that has improved its Ofsted rating and offers strong facilities, though academic outcomes remain below the local average and would suit families prioritising a broad curriculum and extracurricular breadth over top-tier exam results.

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