Outwood Academy Bydales

Outwood Academy Bydales is a secondary academy within the Outwood Grange Academies Trust. Following its March 2025 graded inspection, the school was judged good in all four key judgements: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. It was previously judged outstanding, and under current arrangements no overall effectiveness grade is given. Inspectors found an ambitious school with high standards, caring staff, strong relationships, and a calm, purposeful culture in which pupils are happy and work industriously. The school performs well across most areas. Academic rigour is central to a broad curriculum, teaching is generally strong, pupils with SEND are well supported, attendance is above the national average, and safeguarding is effective. Pupils also benefit from a well-designed personal development programme, strong careers guidance, and a wide range of opportunities. Leadership is very well led, with clear priorities and sound decisions that support staff and pupils. The main areas for improvement are that recent changes in a few subjects are not yet fully embedded, so their full impact has not been realised, and the curriculum does not yet support some disadvantaged pupils well enough in vocabulary, spelling and grammar. This can hinder pupils from communicating their ideas accurately and fluently across the curriculum.

Strengths

• Ambitious school culture with high expectations that pupils meet
• Strong, trusting relationships between pupils and staff
• Staff care deeply for pupils and often go above and beyond
• Calm and purposeful school environment with consistent routines
• Strong culture of praise and rewards that motivates pupils
• Academic rigour is central to the curriculum
• Pupils study a wide range of subjects, including pupils with SEND
• Curriculum is very well designed in most subjects
• Strong GCSE results in most subjects, including English, mathematics and EBacc subjects
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and explain things clearly
• Effective recap and recall tasks help pupils remember knowledge
• Prompt and effective support helps pupils become accurate and fluent readers
• Pupils with SEND are well supported and access the curriculum in line with peers
• Attendance is above the national average
• Carefully designed Life curriculum supports personal development
• Careers programme prepares pupils well for next steps
• Pupils are proud that everyone is treated equally and they contribute to the community
• School is very well led with clear vision and sound decisions
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Recent positive changes to some subjects and how they are taught are not fully embedded
• Full impact of the curriculum in some areas has not yet been realised
• Curriculum does not support some disadvantaged pupils to develop vocabulary, spelling and grammar knowledge as well as it should
• Some pupils' spelling, vocabulary and written accuracy are not as secure as they could be

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 Outwood Academy Bydales attended 93.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 15.1% 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, 7.4% of pupils at Outwood Academy Bydales were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Outwood Academy Bydales had 18.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.3% 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, 21.3% of pupils at Outwood Academy Bydales were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.2% 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 2024–25 Outwood Academy Bydales received £8,070 and spent £7,866 for each of its 825 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,165,000 (£1,412 per pupil).

Across all 40 schools of Outwood Grange Academies Trust, income was £8,313 and spending £8,200 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 Redcar · Redcar and Cleveland local authority: places and applications

Outwood Academy Bydales is part of Outwood Grange Academies Trust, which runs 40 schools. The nearest others:

• Outwood Academy Redcar Redcar
• Outwood Academy Normanby Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Ormesby Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Riverside Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Acklam Middlesbrough
• Outwood Academy Bishopsgarth Stockton-On-Tees
• Outwood Academy Easingwold York
• Outwood Primary Academy Alne York
• Outwood Academy Ripon Ripon
• Outwood Primary Academy Greystone Ripon

What is Outwood Academy Bydales's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Outwood Academy Bydales is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Outwood Academy Bydales last inspected by Ofsted?

Outwood Academy Bydales was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Outwood Academy Bydales have?

Outwood Academy Bydales has 832 pupils on roll.

What age range does Outwood Academy Bydales cover?

Outwood Academy Bydales for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Outwood Academy Bydales's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 50.4, and 63% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Outwood Academy Bydales?

Outwood Academy Bydales is at Coast Road, Marske-by-the-Sea, Redcar, North Yorkshire, TS11 6AR.