Westgate Hill Primary Academy

Westgate Hill Primary Academy is an exceptionally inclusive school where pupils thrive academically, socially and personally. Inspectors found that leaders and staff hold consistently high expectations for all pupils, with particularly strong provision for disadvantaged pupils, those new to the country, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school's approach to inclusion is of the highest possible quality, and pupils' behaviour, attendance and personal development are notable strengths. Children in the early years get off to a flying start, and the school's work to engage parents and the wider community is highly effective.

Strengths

• Exceptionally inclusive provision for vulnerable pupils, including bespoke support for new arrivals and pupils with SEND.
• Pupils' behaviour is exemplary, with high levels of respect and kindness across the school.
• Attendance is strong, with disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND attending above the national average.
• Early years provision is highly effective, with children making rapid progress from their starting points.
• Leaders and governors have an in-depth understanding of the school's context and rigorously hold leaders to account.
• Staff feel very well supported and benefit from a carefully planned programme of professional development.
• The personal development programme is carefully designed to meet the needs of the diverse community and challenges stereotypes.
• Pupils benefit from an extensive range of enrichment activities, including music lessons, after-school clubs and leadership roles.

Areas for Improvement

• Teaching in some foundation subjects, such as geography, does not consistently support pupils to recall detailed knowledge from previous learning.
• In mathematics, opportunities to address misconceptions are sometimes missed, leading to less secure understanding.
• Older pupils show inconsistency in foundational skills such as number formation, use of capital letters and punctuation.
• Pupils' achievement in national tests is close to average for most measures, but reading outcomes are below the national average.

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 Westgate Hill Primary Academy attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.4% 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, 0.2% of pupils at Westgate Hill Primary Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 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 Westgate Hill Primary Academy had 18.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 15.2% of pupils at Westgate Hill Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.8% 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 Westgate Hill Primary Academy received £7,888 and spent £7,466 for each of its 774 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,629,000 (£2,105 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of The Laidlaw Schools Trust, income was £9,582 and spending £9,338 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

Westgate Hill Primary Academy is part of The Laidlaw Schools Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Atkinson Road Primary Academy Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Thomas Walling Primary Academy Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Excelsior Academy Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Oxclose Primary Academy Washington
• Oxclose Community Academy Washington
• South Hylton Primary Academy Sunderland
• Academy 360 Sunderland
• Sedgefield Hardwick Primary Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• Sedgefield Community College Stockton-On-Tees

What is Westgate Hill Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Westgate Hill Primary Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Westgate Hill Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Westgate Hill Primary Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Westgate Hill Primary Academy have?

Westgate Hill Primary Academy has 726 pupils on roll.

What age range does Westgate Hill Primary Academy cover?

Westgate Hill Primary Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Westgate Hill Primary Academy?

Westgate Hill Primary Academy is at Beaconsfield Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE4 5JN.