Monkseaton High School

Monkseaton High School is a small, inclusive secondary school with a strong, shared ambition for its pupils and a tight-knit, resilient community. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision are good, and safeguarding is effective. Staff know pupils well, provide high-quality pastoral and academic support, and have created a positive behaviour culture. The sixth form is a notable strength: students choose it for its supportive atmosphere and achieve well, with effective preparation for further education, employment or training. The school also offers a well-considered personal development programme, highly effective careers guidance, strong SEND support, and a clear focus on reading. However, the quality of education requires improvement. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should in external tests and assessments. While the curriculum sets out the important knowledge and skills pupils need, activity choices sometimes do not match the intended learning, and some staff do not consistently address gaps in pupils’ knowledge after checking their understanding. This limits how deeply some pupils, especially younger pupils, learn the curriculum. Attendance is too high a concern: overall absence and persistent absence remain too high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, although the school has reduced persistent absence among some groups and its strategies are beginning to take effect. Significant context shapes the school’s journey. Since the previous inspection, a new principal and several senior leaders have taken up their roles, and instability in staffing and leadership has affected improvement. The school is also scheduled to close at the end of the 2025/26 academic year and from September 2025 will provide education only to pupils in Years 11 and 13. Despite these challenges, leaders, staff, governors and pupils remain highly committed, and the school has maintained a focus on continual improvement while carefully considering staff workload and pupil well-being.

Strengths

• Strong, shared ambitious vision for all pupils
• High-quality academic and pastoral support
• Positive behaviour culture with warm staff-pupil relationships
• Small, supportive sixth form where students achieve well
• Highly effective personal development programme
• SEND needs are well understood and pupils are fully included
• Reading is a priority and more pupils read for pleasure
• Highly effective careers advice and guidance
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Leaders prioritise staff and pupil well-being and consider workload
• School supports pupils joining or leaving mid-year
• Persistent absence has reduced among some groups
• Wide range of enrichment opportunities available to all pupils

Areas for Improvement

• Quality of education requires improvement
• Pupils do not achieve as well as they should in external tests and assessments
• Activity choices sometimes do not match the intended curriculum learning
• Some staff do not consistently address gaps in pupils’ knowledge after checking understanding
• Pupils do not consistently respond to suggested improvements in their work
• Attendance is too high and persistent absence remains too high, especially for disadvantaged pupils
• Staffing instability and leadership changes have affected the school’s improvement journey

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Monkseaton High School attended 87.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 33.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 15.0% of pupils at Monkseaton High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 2 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Monkseaton High School had 6.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 31.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 14.8% of pupils at Monkseaton High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Monkseaton High School received £21,550 and spent £28,790 for each of its 155 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £6,682,000 (-£43,108 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Whitley Bay · North Tyneside local authority: places and applications

Monkseaton High School is part of The North Tyneside Learning Trust, which runs 29 schools. The nearest others:

• Appletree Gardens First School Whitley Bay
• Woodlawn School Whitley Bay
• Monkseaton Coastal School Whitley Bay
• Marden Bridge Middle School Whitley Bay
• Monkhouse Primary School North Shields
• Southlands School North Shields
• Marden High School North Shields
• Valley Gardens Middle School Whitley Bay
• Whitley Bay High School Whitley Bay
• King Edward Primary School North Tyneside

What is Monkseaton High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Monkseaton High School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Monkseaton High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Monkseaton High School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Monkseaton High School have?

Monkseaton High School has 155 pupils on roll.

What age range does Monkseaton High School cover?

Monkseaton High School for pupils aged 13 to 18.

Where is Monkseaton High School?

Monkseaton High School is at Seatonville Road, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, NE25 9EQ.