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Walker Riverside Academy

Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne · NE6 4AW

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Requires improvement

SchoolFacts estimate: Ofsted awarded no overall grade at this inspection

We show the lowest of the four areas Ofsted did judge, listed below. Why some schools have no overall grade →

Quality of education: Requires improvementBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: GoodLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 24 September 2024

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,101 pupils · 85% of 1,301 capacity

School type
Academy converter
Age range
11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
70.4% of pupils
English as additional language
16.7% of pupils
SEN support
18.9% of pupils
EHC plan
3.6% of pupils
Sixth form
Yes
Website
www.wra.tynecoast.academy
URN
145528

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

1.26 first-choice applications per place

219 places offered · 276 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE. A ratio above 1.00 means more families named this school first choice than there were places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Year 7

Last child offered a place under the distance criterion (2026 entry) lived within 0.932 miles

measured in a straight line.

Cutoff distance by entry year

24
25
26

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Cutoff distances as published by the local authority. Siblings and other priority groups are offered places first; cutoffs move year to year.

GCSE results (2024/2025)

219 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
35.5
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
47.5%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
21.9%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
3.1
England 4.1

Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

A-level results (2024/2025)

A-level points per entry (England: 35 ≈ B-) NE

no pupils entered

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts.

Schools with a similar intake

Attainment 8, 2024/2025

This school35.5
Median of its 12 closest peers35.4
Newcastle upon Tyne average43.3
England46.1

On attainment 8, this school is in line with the schools that teach a comparable intake.

The twelve below are matched on intake alone, from every state school in England, so most are not local. They are the evidence behind the comparison above, not a shortlist. For schools you could realistically apply to, see nearby schools.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Lift GreenwoodBirmingham · 170 miles awayNeeds attention31.8
North Shore AcademyStockton-on-Tees · 30 miles awayStrong standard48.2
Kirkby High SchoolLiverpool · 117 miles awayGood31.4
Alsop High SchoolLiverpool · 120 miles awayUrgent improvement28.2
Dixons Brooklands AcademyManchester · 113 miles awayRequires improvement36.1
Bridge Learning CampusBristol · 251 miles awayNeeds attention34.6
Bishop Challoner Catholic SchoolLondon · 247 miles awayGood44.6
The Albion AcademySalford · 107 miles awayGood47.4
Liberty AcademyHull · 99 miles awayRequires improvement29.2
Lift Unity CityMiddlesbrough · 32 miles awayNeeds attention34.2
Sirius Academy NorthHull · 95 miles awayRequires improvement37.8
Bartley Green SchoolBirmingham · 177 miles awayGood39.9

The 12 state schools in England whose intake most closely matches this one: same phase and admissions type, and as near as the data allows on size, free school meals, English as an additional language, SEN and the child poverty of the surrounding area (IDACI 2025). Matching uses only characteristics a school does not choose. It is not a ranking, and a close match on intake does not make two schools interchangeable: sixth form, faith character, admissions rules and plain geography all matter and are not in the calculation. Results: DfE performance tables, 2024/2025. How the matching works.

Special educational needs

Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.

Provision type: SEN unit.

SEN unit
12 of 12 places taken full, or over capacity

Unit places come from the school census and describe the position when it was taken, not today. Confirm with the local authority before relying on them.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
12%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
31%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
14.8
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

88% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 3% moved to another state school · 9% 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

This school£9,687
Typical secondary school£7,798

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, academy 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.

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
77%
Continuing in education
70%
Apprenticeship
5%
Employment
2%

Where students go after sixth form

To university / higher education
13%
Apprenticeship
0%
Employment
13%
Any sustained destination
69%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, latest DfE destination measures release.

Inspection history since 2015

Ofsted management information. Ungraded and monitoring visits do not award a new grade. How the two inspection systems work.

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
1/10among the most deprived tenth of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
1/10among the most deprived tenth of England

English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG), decile of the small area the school stands in: 1 is the most deprived tenth of England, 10 the least. IDACI counts only children in low-income families, which is the measure closest to the intake a school is likely to draw on.

Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher22%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications28.8%18.1%
In managerial or professional work18.7%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways27.4%18.1%
Residents in very good health41%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier35.9%62.3%
Social housing54.5%17.1%
Privately rented8.2%20.5%
Detached houses5.5%22.9%
Flats40.5%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms3.5%21.1%
Households with no car or van53.3%23.5%

Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01008436 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,285 adults that the school stands in. These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Children travel in from further away, and for selective, faith and some other schools usually much further. Open Government Licence v3.0.

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£155,000254 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
Typical range
£108,500–£206,500the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (14)£242,500
Semi-detached (102)£193,500
Terraced (109)£140,000
Flat (29)£82,500

Homes around this school are among the cheapest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Inside the Year 7 cutoff distance (1.50 km, 2026 entry): 666 sales, median £147,000. The homes that would have got a child in that year, at the straight-line distance the school last filled to.

Every residential sale registered with HM Land Registry within 1 km of the school (straight line) since January 2024, market sales of houses and flats only. A sale is dated by completion and registered weeks later, so the most recent months are incomplete. 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
3an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
5an urban school averages 5.8
All reported collisions
16an urban school averages 30.6
Of those, serious or fatal
4an urban school averages 6.1

Every collision reported to the police within 500 m of the school in 2021–2025, from the Department for Transport's road casualty statistics (STATS19). "Child pedestrians" counts casualties aged under 16 on foot; "school-run times" means weekdays 07:30–09:00 and 15:00–16:30 outside August. A high count usually says the school sits on or near a busy road, not that the school is unsafe: counts rise with traffic and with how built-up an area is, which is why the comparison is with other urban schools. Distances are straight-line from the school's recorded position. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Nearby schools