Washington Academy

Washington Academy is a happy, inclusive secondary school that has improved since its previous inspection. Leaders understand the school’s complex context and are taking effective, pupil-focused action to remove barriers for pupils and families, including those who are disadvantaged or have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pupils benefit from warm relationships, strong pastoral care, a broad personal development offer, and a curriculum that is well designed and typically well taught. Safeguarding is met, and the school has an open culture where concerns are identified, acted upon and managed. The school is part of Consilium Academies and includes a resourced provision for pupils with moderate learning difficulty. However, achievement remains a significant concern. National test and examination outcomes have been low over time and are still below national benchmarks, with Progress 8 and GCSE English and mathematics results well below average, although some outcomes have begun to improve. Attendance is also an area needing attention: overall absence and persistent absence are above national averages, and too many pupils miss lessons, meaning they cannot fully benefit from the school’s provision. Teaching is typically strong but not consistently highly effective across all subjects, and support for pupils with SEND is not always adapted closely enough to individual subject-specific needs. The school serves a smaller-than-average and highly deprived community, with well-above-average proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with SEND or EHC plans. Leaders are well placed to make further improvements, and recent work in reading, mathematics, behaviour and careers is having a positive impact, but these improvements need time to embed and translate into stronger attendance and achievement.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture where concerns are actively identified and managed.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school’s complex context and put effective strategies in place to support pupils and families.
• High-quality pastoral care and a ‘care about every child’ culture help pupils feel safe, welcome and a sense of belonging.
• Pupils respect diversity, discriminatory comments are rare, and bullying is rare.
• A well-constructed curriculum ensures core knowledge and skills build logically, and staff typically teach it well.
• Specialist staff help early-stage readers catch up quickly, and a comprehensive reading programme builds fluency and confidence.
• Positive changes to mathematics teaching are helping pupils build firm numeracy foundations.
• Inclusion is effective: leaders identify needs quickly and accurately, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Pupils with EHC plans in the ‘Inspire’ resourced provision receive high-quality experiences and an ambitious curriculum.
• Leaders use additional funding for disadvantaged pupils effectively to support academic and social progress.
• Personal development is a strength, with a comprehensive curriculum preparing pupils for life in modern Britain.
• A wide range of trips, clubs and ‘super curricular’ activities develop pupils’ talents and interests.
• Careers provision is a high priority, with targeted education from Year 7 and reduced NEET figures.
• Staff value professional learning, workload and wellbeing support, and parents’ views have improved.
• Behaviour systems are clear, pupils typically meet high expectations, and suspensions are being reduced.
• Attendance is improving, persistent absence is coming down, and pupils enjoy rewards for attendance streaks.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils’ achievement in national tests and examinations has been low over time and remains below national benchmarks.
• Outcomes in GCSE English and mathematics, Attainment 8 and Progress 8 are well below national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ performance remains below average, with a large disadvantage gap.
• Too many pupils miss lessons, and overall absence and persistent absence are above national averages.
• Recent improvements in attendance need more time to fully embed.
• Teaching is not consistently highly effective across all subjects, and in some subjects pupils need more support to embed and apply learning over time.
• Support for pupils with SEND is not always tailored closely enough to individual subject-specific needs.
• Rates of suspension have been historically high, though they are reducing.
• Some pupils cannot benefit fully from the school’s high-quality provision because of missed lessons.

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 Washington Academy attended 87.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 37.4% 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, 18.7% of pupils at Washington Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 7 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 Washington Academy had 16.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.9% 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, 25.0% of pupils at Washington Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 7.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 27 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 Washington Academy received £10,932 and spent £10,224 for each of its 594 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £387,000 (£651 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Consilium Academies, income was £9,167 and spending £9,138 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 Washington · Sunderland local authority: places and applications

Washington Academy is part of Consilium Academies, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Heworth Grange School Gateshead
• Thornhill Academy Sunderland
• Wyvern Academy Darlington
• Armthorpe Academy Doncaster
• Moorside High School Manchester
• Ellesmere Park High School Manchester

What is Washington Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Washington Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Washington Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Washington Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Washington Academy have?

Washington Academy has 627 pupils on roll.

What age range does Washington Academy cover?

Washington Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Washington Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.0, and 38% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Washington Academy?

Washington Academy is at Spout Lane, Washington, Tyne and Wear, NE37 2AA.