Gilbert Ward Academy
Special / other · Blyth · NE24 2TS
Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)
The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.
Inspected 6 May 2026 · report published 18 June 2026
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
83 pupils · 104% of 80 capacity (over capacity)
- School type
- Free schools special
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Free school meals
- 71.1% of pupils
- English as additional language
- 0% of pupils
- SEN support
- 0% of pupils
- EHC plan
- 100% of pupils
- URN
- 149842
Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)
Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Teacher retention (2024/25)
90% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 10% moved to another state school
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, 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.
Inspection history since 2015
- 6 May 2026: Needs attention
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 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 19.4% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 23% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 20.8% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 30.5% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 36.3% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 43.6% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 24.1% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 31.6% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 3% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 38.3% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 4.5% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 35.5% | 23.5% |
Census 2021 (ONS) for statistical area E01027431 (a lower layer super output area), the neighbourhood of roughly 1,337 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
- £111,000411 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to July 2026
- Typical range
- £80,000–£155,000the 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.
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
- 2an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 4an urban school averages 5.8
- All reported collisions
- 24an urban school averages 30.6
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 5an 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.