Queen Elizabeth High School

About Queen Elizabeth High School

Queen Elizabeth High School sits well above the Northumberland average for secondary schools when it comes to academic progress. The school’s Progress 8 score of 0.27 means pupils here achieve nearly a third of a grade more per subject than students across the rest of the local authority, where the average Progress 8 score is -0.22. That gap is significant — it places the school third out of 16 secondary schools in Northumberland, and in the top 20% nationally. This is a school where students consistently outperform expectations, particularly in maths, where the Progress 8 score rises to 0.43, and in English, at 0.34. The Attainment 8 score of 54.3 and the fact that 80.5% of pupils achieve a grade 4 or above in English and maths both point to solid foundations across the board.

Ofsted’s most recent inspection in 2024 rated the school Good across every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. That’s a clean sweep, and it matches the Good rating the school received in its previous inspection in 2012. In the sixth form, the value-added score of 0.15 is rated above average, and the average grade for the best three A-levels is a B, with points per entry also sitting at a B grade. The school’s EBacc entry rate is 27.7%, and 22.1% of pupils achieve the EBacc at a grade 4 or above. These results suggest a school that performs consistently well across both key stages, with particular strength in maths and English at GCSE and solid A-level outcomes.

The school is a 13-18 mixed state secondary in Northumberland, with a capacity of 1,308 and currently 1,304 pupils on roll, so it is essentially full. It has a dedicated sixth-form centre and a range of facilities including a theatre, art studios, music rooms, and an ICT suite. Sports on offer include gymnastics, swimming, hockey, and cross country, while clubs range from the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Model UN to coding and Young Enterprise. The school has a chapel on site, though it has no religious character. SEND provision covers specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 13.2% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a broadly typical intake for the area. This is a strong, well-subscribed option for families in Northumberland who want above-average academic progress and a wide range of enrichment, particularly for students moving into sixth form.

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