Alternative Education Service - The Beacon Centre
Special / other · South Shields · NE34 0QA
Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system
This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.
Inspected 28 March 2023
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
78 pupils
- School type
- Pupil referral unit
- Age range
- 4–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 83.3% of pupils
- English as additional language
- 1.4% of pupils
- SEN support
- 81.4% of pupils
- EHC plan
- 12.9% of pupils
- URN
- 108666
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
86% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 14% left the state-funded sector
School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.
Spending per pupil
Total expenditure ÷ pupils, council-maintained school finance return (DfE Schools Financial Benchmarking, latest year). Higher spending is not a measure of quality. It often reflects greater pupil need or a smaller school. Open Government Licence v3.0.
Inspection history since 2015
- 28 March 2023: Good
- 8 May 2019: Requires improvement
- 11 September 2018: School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next
Ofsted management information. Ungraded and monitoring visits do not award a new grade. How the two inspection systems work.