Viewley Hill Academy

Viewley Hill Academy is a welcoming, inclusive and caring school where pupils feel happy, safe and known as individuals. Safeguarding is effective, and the school is performing solidly in attendance and behaviour, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Leaders have a clear vision, use trust support well, and have made positive curriculum changes, particularly in English and mathematics. Pupils behave well, relationships are warm and respectful, and disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are closely monitored and well supported. The main areas for improvement are achievement, curriculum and teaching, and early years. Too few children leave the early years with the skills and knowledge needed for key stage 1, especially in reading and writing, and adults sometimes miss opportunities to extend children's language during play. In the wider curriculum, the high expectations for spelling, punctuation and handwriting seen in English are not consistently applied, and some older pupils have gaps in these basics. Persistent absence remains above the national average, although leaders' tenacious work is reducing it. The school serves a community with high levels of disadvantage: a well-above-average proportion of pupils are eligible for free school meals, and the proportion of pupils with SEN support is also well above average. It is part of Lingfield Education Trust, and this was a full section 5 inspection. Overall, leaders are taking the right steps and improvement is evident, but the early years curriculum and the consistency of writing standards across subjects require further work.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy, safe and known as individuals in a welcoming, caring school.
• Behaviour in lessons and around school is calm, polite and consistently managed.
• Staff build warm, respectful relationships and pupils have trusted adults to turn to.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture and concerns acted on promptly.
• Inclusion is strong: SEND, disadvantaged pupils and those facing additional barriers are closely monitored and well supported.
• The 'SEND from the start' approach helps teachers adapt learning quickly to pupils' needs.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding purposefully and disadvantaged pupils access the same opportunities as their peers.
• Leadership and governance are effective, with a clear vision, accurate self-evaluation and strong trust support.
• Governors and trustees provide appropriate challenge and support and fulfil their statutory duties.
• Staff morale is high and leaders give careful thought to workload and wellbeing.
• Personal development is well structured and tailored to the local community, including online safety and British values.
• Pupils access a good range of clubs, trips and wider activities, including theatre, museums and community music.
• Attendance is improving and is now broadly in line with the national average.
• Phonics teaching is effective and increasing numbers of pupils leave key stage 1 as confident readers.
• Recent English curriculum changes are impactful, with better handwriting and accurate spelling and punctuation in English lessons.
• Mathematics teaching is well refined, with regular checks and quick correction of errors.
• Disadvantaged pupils' achievements in end of key stage 2 national tests are typically in line with or above disadvantaged pupils nationally.
• Early years classrooms are stimulating and vibrant, with strong phonics and number opportunities.
• Children in pre-school and nursery settle quickly because staff work closely with families.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years curriculum is not adapted sharply enough to children's specific needs.
• Too few children leave the early years with the skills and knowledge needed for key stage 1, especially in reading and writing.
• Adults in early years too often miss opportunities to model and extend children's language and vocabulary during play.
• High expectations for spelling, punctuation and handwriting in English are not consistently embedded across wider curriculum subjects.
• Some older pupils have gaps in spelling, punctuation and grammar and are not securing writing basics quickly enough.
• Pupils' written responses in some subjects are less well developed, with inconsistent presentation and grammatical accuracy.
• Persistent absence remains above the national average, although it is reducing.
• Overall attendance has been too low historically and remains an ongoing priority.
• Combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes have been below national averages over the latest three years.
• Leaders should continue their work to improve attendance so more pupils benefit from curriculum improvements.

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 Viewley Hill Academy attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.9% 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, 2.0% of pupils at Viewley Hill Academy 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 Viewley Hill Academy had 18.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.2% 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, 21.9% of pupils at Viewley Hill Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 2024–25 Viewley Hill Academy received £7,871 and spent £8,064 for each of its 284 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £215,000 (£757 per pupil).

Across all 24 schools of Lingfield Education Trust, income was £6,737 and spending £6,759 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 Middlesbrough · Middlesbrough local authority: places and applications

Viewley Hill Academy is part of Lingfield Education Trust, which runs 26 schools. The nearest others:

• Hemlington Hall Academy Middlesbrough
• Marton Manor Primary School Middlesbrough
• Lingfield Primary School Middlesbrough
• Captain Cook Primary School Marton
• The Avenue Primary School Middlesbrough
• Ingleby Mill Primary School Stockton-On-Tees
• Mandale Mill Primary School Stockton-On-Tees
• Harewood Primary School Stockton-On-Tees
• Preston Primary School Stockton-On-Tees
• Durham Lane Primary School Stockton-On-Tees

What is Viewley Hill Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Viewley Hill Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Viewley Hill Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Viewley Hill Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Viewley Hill Academy have?

Viewley Hill Academy has 301 pupils on roll.

What age range does Viewley Hill Academy cover?

Viewley Hill Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Viewley Hill Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 51% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Viewley Hill Academy?

Viewley Hill Academy is at Andover Way, Hemlington, Middlesbrough, TS8 9HL.