Belsay Primary School

Belsay Primary School has demonstrated overall good performance in its first inspection since converting to an academy. The school fosters a friendly and caring environment where pupils feel safe and enthusiastic about learning. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, with a strong emphasis on reading and personal development, enabling pupils, including those with special educational needs, to thrive. However, some areas require improvement, particularly in how well pupils retain knowledge over time and how learning gaps are identified and addressed swiftly, particularly in mathematics and foundation subjects.

Strengths

• Pupils thrive in a friendly and caring school environment.
• High expectations for all pupils, including those with SEND.
• Strong emphasis on reading across the curriculum.
• Effective phonics teaching from early years.
• Pupils enjoy various extracurricular activities that support personal development.
• Governors and trust leaders have a clear vision for school improvement.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent retention of knowledge among pupils.
• Some misconceptions in mathematics are not identified quickly enough.
• Lack of long-term assessment in some foundation subjects.

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 Belsay Primary School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.2% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Belsay Primary School 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 Belsay Primary School had 16.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 29.0% 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, 11.9% of pupils at Belsay Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.8% 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 Belsay Primary School received £8,890 and spent £9,093 for each of its 79 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £123,000 (£1,557 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of Pele Trust, income was £7,483 and spending £7,649 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 · Northumberland local authority: places and applications

Belsay Primary School is part of Pele Trust, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• Ponteland Primary School Ponteland
• Richard Coates Church of England Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Darras Hall Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Ponteland High School Ponteland
• Heddon-on-the-Wall, St Andrew's Church of England Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• John Spence Community High School North Shields
• Shilbottle Primary School Alnwick
• The Duchess's Community High School Alnwick
• Swansfield Park Primary School Alnwick
• Branton Primary School and Nursery Alnwick

What is Belsay Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Belsay Primary School is Good, from an inspection in January 2024.

When was Belsay Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Belsay Primary School was last inspected in January 2024.

How many pupils does Belsay Primary School have?

Belsay Primary School has 84 pupils on roll.

What age range does Belsay Primary School cover?

Belsay Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Belsay Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Belsay Primary School?

Belsay Primary School is at Belsay, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE20 0ET.