Newcastle Academy

About Newcastle Academy

Newcastle Academy has turned a corner. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023, the school was rated Good overall, a clear step up from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2019. Inspectors judged every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management — as Good. That’s a solid foundation, but the exam data tells a more complicated story. The school’s Progress 8 score for 2023/24 was -1.19, which is well below average nationally and ranks it last among the ten secondary schools in Newcastle-under-Lyme. To put that in context, the local authority average Progress 8 score across Staffordshire is -0.18, so Newcastle Academy’s figure is significantly lower. The Attainment 8 score sits at 30.5, and just 38% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, dropping to 15.5% at grade 5 or above. Only 2.8% of pupils entered the EBacc full suite of subjects.

The school serves a community with high levels of disadvantage — 39.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. That context matters when interpreting the results. The Progress 8 breakdown shows negative scores across every subject bucket: English at -1.13, maths at -0.96, EBacc subjects at -1.18, and open subjects at -1.42. The EBacc average point score is 2.52. Nationally, the school ranks 3,068 out of 3,141 schools on Progress 8, placing it in the bottom 2.3% of all state secondaries. In the West Midlands region, it sits at 363 out of 371. Despite these outcomes, the school is heavily oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 247 applications for 105 places, with 85 first-preference offers. That suggests strong local demand, likely driven by the improved Ofsted rating and the school’s role in the community.

Newcastle Academy is an 11-16 mixed secondary with no sixth form. Facilities include a swimming pool, science labs, tennis courts, playing fields, and a chapel. The school offers a wide range of clubs — from Drama and Eco Club to Coding, DofE, and Film Club — and sports including football, rugby, gymnastics, and dance. SEND provision is broad, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, and autistic spectrum disorder. For families considering this school, the key tension is clear: the Ofsted rating is Good and the school is popular enough to be oversubscribed, but the academic outcomes are among the weakest in the area. It may suit families who value the pastoral and community environment and are comfortable with the current attainment profile, particularly if their child has additional needs that the school’s SEND team is equipped to support.

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