Seaham High School

Seaham High School is performing well overall, achieving good ratings across all inspection domains including education quality, behaviour, personal development, and leadership. The school promotes a safe and supportive environment where students are encouraged to be themselves and develop their talents through various extracurricular activities. Strong pastoral care ensures that students feel valued and supported by staff, contributing to a positive school atmosphere where bullying is rare and effectively managed when reported. The curriculum is thoughtfully designed to allow students a mix of GCSEs and technical qualifications, and there is a commitment to continuing development in teaching and staff training.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and valued in a supportive learning environment.
• Effective pastoral support ensures strong relationships between staff and pupils.
• A well-considered curriculum provides both GCSEs and technical qualifications.
• High expectations for pupil behaviour are often met.
• Strong focus on curriculum development and staff training.
• Support for pupils with SEND is effectively managed.

Areas for Improvement

• Range of support for reading catch-up is underdeveloped, affecting some pupils' progress.
• Variability in curriculum sequencing leads to inconsistencies in pupils' understanding.

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 Seaham High School attended 91.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 24.8% 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, 10.7% of pupils at Seaham High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 Seaham High School had 15.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.2% 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, 18.5% of pupils at Seaham High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.7% 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 Seaham High School received £7,581 and spent £7,954 for each of its 1,123 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,808,000 (£2,500 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of Eden Learning Trust, income was £8,319 and spending £8,301 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 Seaham · County Durham local authority: places and applications

Seaham High School is part of Eden Learning Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Kepier Houghton Le Spring
• Woodlea Primary School Houghton Le Spring
• Ferryhill School Ferryhill
• Tanfield School Stanley
• Chilton Academy Ferryhill
• Woodham Academy Newton Aycliffe
• King James I Academy Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland
• Aycliffe Village Primary and Nursery School Newton Aycliffe
• St Helen Auckland Community Primary School Bishop Auckland

What is Seaham High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Seaham High School is Good, from an inspection in September 2023.

When was Seaham High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Seaham High School was last inspected in September 2023.

How many pupils does Seaham High School have?

Seaham High School has 1,095 pupils on roll.

What age range does Seaham High School cover?

Seaham High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Seaham High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 47.8, and 48% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Seaham High School?

Seaham High School is at Station Road, Seaham, County Durham, SR7 0BH.