Grace College

Grace College is a larger-than-average secondary school within the Emmanuel Schools Foundation. Safeguarding standards are met, and the overall picture is of a school that is improving but still has uneven performance. Post-16 provision is strong through the associated sixth form, inclusion and personal development are at the expected standard, and leaders have raised expectations, improved the curriculum and created a typically calm and orderly environment. Pupils increasingly feel a sense of belonging, and behaviour is improving, with suspensions reducing. The main concerns are attendance and achievement. Too many pupils are persistently or severely absent, and leaders' actions are not improving rates quickly enough. Some pupils have gaps in foundational literacy and mathematics that are not addressed quickly, teaching quality varies, and support for pupils with SEND is inconsistent in lessons. Key stage 4 attainment and progress have been below national average over time, although 2025 outcomes improved to close to average. Disadvantaged pupils' progress gaps remain wide, and low attendance is adversely affecting some pupils' achievement. Leaders are focused on the right priorities, and governors and trustees provide appropriate challenge and support, with recent trust support helping improvement. Inclusion work, personal development, careers guidance and enrichment are strengths. However, leaders' actions are not yet having the needed impact in some areas, improvements in behaviour and inclusion are not fully embedded, and some parents and staff have concerns about communication. The report's next steps focus on attendance, consistent adaptive teaching, addressing misconceptions and gaps, improving communication, and embedding behaviour and inclusion improvements.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding.
• Strong post-16 provision through an associated sixth form, with high-quality pastoral support and an extensive enrichment offer.
• Sixth-form students achieve well and make sustained progress, including those facing barriers to learning.
• Leaders have designed a clear, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum that has improved since the last inspection.
• Inclusion systems accurately identify pupils with SEND and other barriers, and leaders work effectively with professionals.
• Successful strategies reduce barriers, including therapeutic support and one-to-one mentoring.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is thorough, covering RSHE, British values and online safety.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment, residential trips, performances and leadership roles.
• An effective careers programme helps pupils challenge stereotypes and secure appropriate destinations.
• Behaviour is improving, routines are clear, and the school is typically calm and orderly.
• Suspensions are reducing rapidly, and most pupils have positive attitudes to learning.
• Leaders have raised expectations and increased ambition in the curriculum.
• Local governors and trustees are skilled, knowledgeable and provide appropriate challenge and support.
• Recent trust support has helped the school to improve.
• Pupils increasingly experience a sense of belonging through initiatives such as Good Morning Grace and Morning meeting.
• Pupils' attainment in 2025 was close to the national average, including for disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils achieve well in modern foreign languages.

Areas for Improvement

• Too many pupils do not attend school often enough, with persistent and severe absence rates much higher than national average.
• Leaders' actions to improve attendance are not improving rates quickly enough, especially for severely absent pupils.
• Some pupils have gaps in foundational literacy and mathematics that are not addressed quickly enough.
• Some pupils do not have the secure or deep knowledge they need to progress.
• Teaching quality varies, and misconceptions and gaps in pupils' knowledge are not consistently identified and addressed.
• Support for pupils with SEND is inconsistent in lessons despite clear systems and training.
• Not all pupils who need extra support with writing and mathematics receive it.
• Low attendance is adversely affecting achievement, including for pupils with SEND.
• Some pupils are not as prepared as they need to be for the next stages in their learning.
• Key stage 4 attainment and progress have been below national average over time, though 2025 showed improvement.
• Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8 remains below national average and the disadvantage gap is wide.
• Behaviour is improving but suspensions remain high and some pupils quietly disengage in lessons.
• Some pupils experience bullying, although most say staff deal with it effectively.
• Some parents of pupils with SEND express frustration with communication about their child's progress and needs.
• Some parents and staff feel that leaders' communication can negatively affect staff workload and pupils' experiences.
• Leaders' actions to improve some aspects of the school are not yet having the impact needed.
• Inconsistencies in teaching remain despite research-informed professional learning.
• Improvements in behaviour and inclusion are not yet fully embedded or consistent.

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 Grace College attended 83.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 41.9% 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, 17.2% of pupils at Grace College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 9 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 Grace College had 17.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.4% 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, 23.6% of pupils at Grace College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.2% 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 Grace College received £8,773 and spent £8,388 for each of its 1,149 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £441,000 (£384 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Emmanuel Schools Foundation, income was £8,099 and spending £7,883 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 Gateshead · Gateshead local authority: places and applications

Grace College is part of Emmanuel Schools Foundation, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• Christ's College Sunderland
• Bede Academy Blyth
• The King's Academy Middlesbrough
• Trinity Academy Doncaster

What is Grace College's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Grace College last inspected by Ofsted?

Grace College was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Grace College have?

Grace College has 1,125 pupils on roll.

What age range does Grace College cover?

Grace College for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Grace College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 40.1, and 36% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Grace College?

Grace College is at Saltwell Road South, Gateshead, NE9 6LE.