Beacon of Light School
Special / other · Sunderland · SR5 1SN
Data updated
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 19 September 2023
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
- School type
- Free schools alternative provision
- Age range
- 13–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 0% of pupils (January 2026)
- English as additional language
- 0% of pupils (2024/2025)
- SEN support
- 0% of pupils (2024/2025)
- EHC plan
- 0% of pupils (2024/2025)
- URN
- 142882
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
100% of teachers stayed at the school the following year
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, special schools and PRUs: 0.68% vacant, 1.02% temporary
Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)
53.3% of teachers took sickness absence, 3.4 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days
Teacher pay (November 2025)
Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £52,508; 13.3% on the leadership pay range · England, special schools and PRUs: £53,604, 18.3%
Vacancies, sickness and pay, last three years Premium
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Unlock with SchoolFacts Premium →Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
Spending per pupil (2024-25)
Where the money went (2024-25)
Share of spending, with the median for alternative provision schools in brackets: Staff 79% (80%) · premises 1% (4%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 6% (5%) · supplies and services 15% (9%) · educational supplies 7% (4%) · bought-in professional services 4% (1%) · catering 1% (2%)
Reserves (2024-25)
Revenue reserve £742,000; in-year balance +£292,000
Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: academy finance return, 2024-25, DfE · how spending is compared
Inspection history since 2015
- 19 September 2023: Good
- 2 July 2019: Requires improvement
Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 5/10around the middle for England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 3/10more deprived than most of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 25.7% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 17.9% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 24.2% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 19.4% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 42.1% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 64.2% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 16.2% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 19.6% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 5.3% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 16.6% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 12.6% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 33.5% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01008711 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £130,000268 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £85,000–£160,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are among the cheapest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Roads around the school
- Child pedestrian casualties
- 0an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 2an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 20an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 6an urban school averages 6.1
A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted