Venerable Bede Church of England Academy

Venerable Bede Church of England Academy is a school in transition. Inspectors found serious weaknesses in the quality of education, which is inadequate, while behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management require improvement. The school had been good at its previous inspection, has recently joined Northern Lights Learning Trust, and has a new head of school and several new senior leaders. Leaders are taking meaningful action on behaviour, attendance and staffing, and safeguarding is effective, but the legacy of variable curriculum delivery and significant staff absence means pupils have gaps in knowledge and 2024 outcomes were poor. The report recognises real strengths: pupils are increasingly orderly, bullying has reduced, staff know pupils well and relationships are positive, and pupils benefit from enrichment and careers opportunities. Behaviour and attendance are improving, and new systems for tracking achievement and early reading support are starting to help. Governance is realistic and attentive to staff wellbeing, and steps to increase capacity and reduce absence are beginning to have an impact. However, the school still has substantial work to do. Curriculum implementation has been too inconsistent, staff do not routinely check or adapt to pupils' prior knowledge, and pupils do not remember enough. Pupils with SEND do not consistently get well-matched support, vocabulary and literacy are not embedded, and some pupils cannot read, write or communicate as well as expected. A significant minority do not attend regularly enough or meet behaviour expectations, and pupils' understanding of PSHE content such as democracy, protected characteristics and world faiths is not secure. These issues leave pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, poorly prepared for external tests and next steps.

Strengths

• Leaders are successfully addressing serious concerns about behaviour, attitudes to learning and attendance.
• Some pupils now attend more regularly and have an increasingly positive approach to their studies.
• Staff are proud to work at the school and share good relationships with pupils.
• Pupils are now taught by specialist staff who know them well.
• Most pupils have an adult they would ask for help.
• Bullying has reduced and pupils mostly conduct themselves in an orderly way.
• The school provides many enrichment opportunities that some pupils use well.
• Careers education is a strength, with work experience, employer engagement and impartial advice.
• Early reading support is well set out and is helping pupils who receive it to develop fluency.
• The school has improved how it tracks and predicts pupils' achievement, which is beginning to inform support and intervention.
• Governance is realistic about challenges and mindful of staff wellbeing.
• Steps have been taken to increase capacity and reduce staff absence.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education is inadequate and curriculum implementation has been too variable over time.
• Pupils do not remember much of what they have been taught, leaving significant gaps in skills and knowledge.
• Published outcomes in 2024 were poor.
• Staff checks do not precisely identify what pupils can and cannot do, and new learning is not carefully adapted.
• Pupils with SEND receive support, but lesson adjustments are of variable quality.
• Reading and literacy are not well embedded across the school.
• Important subject-specific vocabulary is not consistently emphasised or used confidently by pupils.
• Some pupils cannot read, write and communicate as well as might be expected for their age.
• Pupils are sometimes not engaged in learning and staff do not tackle this effectively.
• Some pupils do not appreciate the importance of attending school regularly.
• A significant minority do not meet the school's high expectations for conduct.
• Pupils' understanding of protected characteristics, democracy and a range of world faiths is not secure.
• Disadvantaged pupils have not gained the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in external tests and assessments.
• Pupils are not well prepared for their next steps in education, employment or training.

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 Venerable Bede Church of England Academy attended 87.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 32.9% 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, 14.4% of pupils at Venerable Bede Church of England Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 8 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 Venerable Bede Church of England Academy had 16.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.6% 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, 12.7% of pupils at Venerable Bede Church of England Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.4% 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 2024–25 Venerable Bede Church of England Academy received £8,446 and spent £8,850 for each of its 845 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £839,000 (-£993 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of Northern Lights Learning Trust, income was £8,188 and spending £8,299 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 Sunderland · Sunderland local authority: places and applications

Venerable Bede Church of England Academy is part of Northern Lights Learning Trust, which runs 12 schools. The nearest others:

• Benedict Biscop Church of England Academy Sunderland
• Dame Dorothy Primary School Sunderland
• Holley Park Academy Washington
• Hart Primary School Hartlepool
• St Peter's Elwick Church of England Primary School Hartlepool
• St Helen's Primary School Hartlepool
• Grange Primary School Hartlepool
• Tilery Primary School Stockton-On-Tees
• Ian Ramsey Church of England Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• St Aidan's Church of England Academy Darlington

What is Venerable Bede Church of England Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Venerable Bede Church of England Academy is Inadequate, from an inspection in May 2026.

When was Venerable Bede Church of England Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Venerable Bede Church of England Academy was last inspected in May 2026.

How many pupils does Venerable Bede Church of England Academy have?

Venerable Bede Church of England Academy has 738 pupils on roll.

What age range does Venerable Bede Church of England Academy cover?

Venerable Bede Church of England Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Venerable Bede Church of England Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 43.1, and 45% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Venerable Bede Church of England Academy?

Venerable Bede Church of England Academy is at Tunstall Bank, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR2 0SX.