Benfield School

Benfield School is a warm and welcoming secondary academy with a strong sense of community. Pupils are happy, feel safe and have positive relationships with staff. Behaviour has improved since the previous inspection and most pupils behave well, although some still do not fully meet the school's expectations and some pupils feel uncomfortable because of their peers' behaviour. Attendance has improved overall, but persistent absence remains high. Leaders have introduced a more aspirational curriculum, and where teaching is stronger pupils are beginning to recall and understand more. However, implementation is uneven: teaching strategies are not consistently used, curriculum leadership in several areas is still developing, and staffing and leadership turbulence has slowed some improvement. As a result, outcomes in examinations and assessments remain well below national averages. The school has high ambition for pupils with SEND and effective reading support, but pupils with SEND experience the same variability in teaching quality as their peers. Personal development is effective, with a broad programme covering health, relationships and fundamental British values, and the proportion of pupils moving to positive destinations has improved. Safeguarding is effective, and governors and trustees understand the school and challenge and support leaders well. Key priorities are to make teaching and curriculum implementation consistently strong, reduce persistent absence, refine support for pupils who struggle with behavioural expectations, and strengthen curriculum leadership.

Strengths

• Warm, welcoming school with a strong sense of community
• Pupils are happy, feel safe and trust staff
• Positive relationships between pupils and adults
• Behavioural culture has improved since the previous inspection
• Most pupils behave well in lessons and move around school sensibly
• More aspirational curriculum designed to build skills and knowledge for pupils' next stages
• Many lessons are well structured and use modelling to help pupils remember knowledge
• New curriculum is starting to show impact where teaching is stronger
• High ambition for pupils with SEND, with needs accurately identified and adaptations made
• SEND resourced provisions are well integrated into school life
• Reading is prioritised, with weaker readers identified quickly and effective intervention
• Effective personal development programme covering health, relationships, drugs, knife crime and British values
• Improved proportion of pupils moving on to positive destinations
• Relational approach to behaviour has had a notable impact on pupil attitudes and culture
• Attendance has substantially improved overall
• Pupils enjoy a range of extra-curricular opportunities and contribute to school leadership
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Governors and trustees understand the school and challenge and support leaders effectively
• Most staff feel leaders take their workload into account

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent, with teaching strategies not used effectively across the school
• Pupils' outcomes in published examinations and assessments have been poor over time and remain well below national averages
• Some pupils do not fully engage with the school's behavioural expectations
• Some pupils feel uncomfortable because of the behaviour of their peers
• Persistent absence remains significantly high, including for some disadvantaged pupils, and affects learning and outcomes
• Some pupils are frequently suspended and miss lessons as a result
• Leadership of several curriculum areas is still developing, delaying planned improvements
• Staffing and leadership turbulence has delayed some aspects of curriculum improvement
• Pupils with SEND experience the same variable teaching quality as their peers
• When teaching is less effective, pupils make less progress through the curriculum

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 Benfield School attended 85.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 37.2% 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, 17.5% of pupils at Benfield School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 12 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 Benfield School had 13.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.6% 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, 18.7% of pupils at Benfield School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 2 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 Benfield School received £11,124 and spent £10,518 for each of its 921 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £401,000 (£436 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Neat Academy Trust, income was £9,366 and spending £9,344 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

Benfield School is part of Neat Academy Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Walkergate Community School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Tyneview Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Central Walker Church of England Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Peter's Church of England Primary School Wallsend
• West Walker Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Whitehouse Primary School North Shields
• St Hild's Church of England School Hartlepool

What is Benfield School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Benfield School last inspected by Ofsted?

Benfield School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Benfield School have?

Benfield School has 819 pupils on roll.

What age range does Benfield School cover?

Benfield School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Benfield School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 31.8, and 24% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Benfield School?

Benfield School is at Benfield Road, Walkergate, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE6 4NU.