Kenton School

Kenton School is a large secondary and sixth form within the Northern Leaders Trust, serving a community facing significant social and economic challenges that particularly affect attendance and pupils’ social, emotional and mental health. Inspectors found a caring school with high aspirations, a well-sequenced curriculum from Year 7 to sixth form, and effective SEND provision, including specialist support for pupils with autism and speech, language and communication needs. Personal development and sixth-form provision are strengths, and safeguarding is effective. However, many pupils do not achieve well by the end of key stage 4, and a significant minority do not meet the school’s behaviour expectations, causing disruption and leading to high suspension levels. Attendance has started to improve through a rigorous strategy, but absence remains high, especially for disadvantaged pupils. Curriculum changes are ambitious, but current key stage 4 pupils have not benefited from them throughout, leaving some with significant knowledge gaps. In key stages 3 and 4, teachers sometimes do not check pupils’ understanding rigorously enough, so pupils move on before knowledge is secure. Leadership has a clear vision and additional trust capacity is beginning to improve curriculum, behaviour and attendance, but the impact on pupils’ achievement is not yet significant. Staff culture is positive.

Strengths

• Positive, caring environment where pupils build friendships and know where to seek help
• Staff show genuine commitment to helping pupils succeed and the school values all pupils
• High aspirations and more ambitious curriculum programmes have been introduced
• Most pupils behave well, follow instructions and conduct themselves calmly
• Comprehensive, age-appropriate personal development programme covering relationships, health, safety and careers
• Effective SEND provision with swift identification, well-targeted support and specialist teaching for autism and SLCN
• Pupils with SEND achieve well from their different starting points
• Extra phonics and reading support helps pupils with low literacy catch up
• A reading culture is beginning to develop and pupils read often at school
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and structure lessons well
• Sixth-form teachers explain new ideas clearly and give useful feedback
• Strong careers education and guidance from Year 7 to sixth form
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Clear leadership vision with trustees and local governors performing statutory duties
• Additional trust leadership capacity is leading to some improvement in curriculum, behaviour and attendance
• Positive staff culture with well-being prioritised and workload manageable
• Pupils enjoy the elective curriculum, educational visits and extra-curricular sports programme

Areas for Improvement

• Many pupils do not achieve well at the end of key stage 4
• Key stage 4 pupils have not experienced the well-sequenced curriculum from the start, leaving some with significant subject knowledge gaps
• At key stages 3 and 4, teachers sometimes do not check understanding or secure knowledge rigorously before moving on
• A significant minority of pupils do not meet the school’s behaviour expectations
• Disruption to learning and inappropriate behaviour around school persist, particularly in younger years
• Levels of suspension are high
• Absence levels remain high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils
• The impact of the school’s work on pupils’ achievement is not yet significant
• Teachers need further training and development in pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge

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 Kenton School attended 87.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 34.8% 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, 11.6% of pupils at Kenton School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 5 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 Kenton School had 15.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.1% 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, 11.3% of pupils at Kenton School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has a SEN unit with 5 pupils and resourced provision with 23 pupils.

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 2024–25 Kenton School received £10,368 and spent £10,157 for each of its 1,730 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,064,000 (£615 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Northern Leaders Trust, income was £10,094 and spending £10,163 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne · Newcastle upon Tyne local authority: places and applications

Kenton School is part of Northern Leaders Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Studio West Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

What is Kenton School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kenton School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Kenton School last inspected by Ofsted?

Kenton School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Kenton School have?

Kenton School has 1,589 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kenton School cover?

Kenton School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Kenton School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.4, and 41% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Kenton School?

Kenton School is at Drayton Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE3 3RU.