Beaconhill Community Primary School

Beaconhill Community Primary School is a welcoming and caring school where pupils feel safe, happy and included. Attendance and behaviour are positive, early years provision gives children a strong start, inclusion is well supported, and personal development opportunities are broad. Safeguarding standards are met, and leaders have maintained a positive culture in which staff feel supported. However, academic achievement is a key concern. Outcomes over time have been below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics, and phonics results have also lagged behind. Teaching is inconsistent, misconceptions are not always addressed quickly, writing expectations are too low, and phonics support does not always help lower-attaining pupils catch up. Leaders and governors have been too slow to tackle these weaknesses, though they now have a more accurate understanding and have identified the right priorities; this work is recent and its impact is not yet secure. The school serves a community with well-above-average free school meals eligibility, above-average SEN support and higher-than-average deprivation. This was a full section 5 inspection. While many aspects of provision are expected standard, the school needs swift action to improve curriculum, teaching and assessment so that pupils secure basic skills and are better prepared for the next stage of education.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture where pupils feel safe.
• Pupils are happy, polite and respectful, and behaviour is typically calm and orderly.
• Strong relationships between staff and pupils underpin effective behaviour support.
• Attendance is carefully monitored, with early support for families and most pupils attending regularly.
• Early years provides a welcoming start, with clear routines and confident communicators.
• The early years curriculum is broad, ambitious and focused on vocabulary development.
• Inclusion is a strength: pupils feel valued, and staff identify and support barriers to learning.
• Additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used effectively for academic and pastoral support.
• Personal development is well designed, covering healthy relationships, online safety and wellbeing.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of experiences, including sport, visits and outdoor learning.
• Leaders maintain a positive, caring culture and staff feel supported in their development.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' achievement has been variable and below national averages over time.
• Published outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are below national averages.
• Phonics screening outcomes have not been in line with national averages.
• Some older pupils lack secure foundations in early reading.
• Pupils do not consistently build and retain the knowledge they need.
• Teaching is inconsistent across subjects and year groups.
• Teachers do not consistently identify misconceptions or adapt teaching quickly enough.
• Expectations for writing are not high enough, limiting progress in spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary.
• Phonics interventions are not timely or well targeted for lower-attaining pupils.
• Leaders and governors have been too slow to secure necessary improvements.
• Governance has not been sufficiently effective in identifying and improving weaknesses.
• Curriculum implementation and effective intervention are not embedded across the school.
• Disadvantaged pupils have historically underperformed, with a large disadvantage gap.
• Pupils are not as well prepared for the next stage of education as they should be.
• Swift action is needed to improve curriculum, teaching and assessment so pupils achieve their potential.

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 Beaconhill Community Primary School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

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, 0.4% of pupils at Beaconhill Community Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No 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 Beaconhill Community Primary School had 20.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

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, 23.6% of pupils at Beaconhill Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Beaconhill Community Primary School received £8,117 and spent £8,177 for each of its 231 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £127,000 (£552 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 Cramlington · Northumberland local authority: places and applications

What is Beaconhill Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Beaconhill Community Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Beaconhill Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Beaconhill Community Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Beaconhill Community Primary School have?

Beaconhill Community Primary School has 237 pupils on roll.

What age range does Beaconhill Community Primary School cover?

Beaconhill Community Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Beaconhill Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 41% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Beaconhill Community Primary School?

Beaconhill Community Primary School is at Langdale Drive, Beacon Hill Grange, Cramlington, Northumberland, NE23 8EH.