Ofsted: Good trending_up Places Available emoji_events #9 in Sunderland public Top 27% UK

Venerable Bede Church of England Academy

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMr David Airey

corporate_fareNORTHERN LIGHTS LEARNING TRUST

location_onSunderland, SR2 0SX

language Visit Website phone 1915239745

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2025

groups

Students

892

trending_up

Attainment 8

44.1

leaderboard

GCSE Rank

#9 in Sunderland

#1,917 of 3,216 nationally

summarize

Venerable Bede Church of England Academy is a Academy converter secondary school in Sunderland, serving ages 11-16. Rated Good by Ofsted.

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School Summary

Venerable Bede Church of England Academy is an academy converter in Sunderland, admitting pupils aged 11-16. It is part of NORTHERN LIGHTS LEARNING TRUST. The school has approximately 843 pupils on roll, of whom 32% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, pupils achieved an Attainment 8 score of 44.1, placing the school #9 in Sunderland and #1,917 of 3,216 nationally. 38.80% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in English and Maths. 17.1% of all GCSE entries were graded 9–7.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2025. The school's current overall rating is Good. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Inadequate, behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement, personal development Requires improvement, and leadership and management Requires improvement.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 1.0× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 16.5:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were 8 permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 33.3 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

analytics

Secondary Performance Trends (KS4)

2025

Progress 8 Score

Attainment 8

44.1

Grade 5+ E&M

38.80%

Grade 9–7 (all GCSEs)17.1%

Entering EBacc44.40%

EBacc APS3.9

2024

Progress 8 Score

-1.04

vs National Avg

Attainment 8

37.6

Grade 5+ E&M

Entering EBacc36.20%

EBacc APS3.4

2023

Progress 8 Score

-1.00

vs National Avg

Attainment 8

41.9

Grade 5+ E&M

Entering EBacc39%

EBacc APS3.69

2022

Progress 8 Score

-0.72

vs National Avg

Attainment 8

44.8

Grade 5+ E&M

Entering EBacc42%

EBacc APS3.99

2021

Progress 8 Score

Attainment 8

Grade 5+ E&M

Entering EBacc39%

EBacc APS-

2019

Progress 8 Score

-0.36

vs National Avg

Attainment 8

46.4

Grade 5+ E&M

Entering EBacc47%

EBacc APS4.15

2018

Progress 8 Score

-0.5

vs National Avg

Attainment 8

Grade 5+ E&M

Entering EBacc43%

EBacc APS3.97

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Student Destinations (After Secondary)

This module shows what students did after finishing Key Stage 4 (GCSEs). It reflects how well the school prepares pupils for the real world.

2025

Stayed in Education / Employment

91%

Education (e.g. Sixth Form/College)77%

Apprenticeships14%

Employment1%

Not in Education / Employment (NEET)6%

2024

Stayed in Education / Employment

95%

Education (e.g. Sixth Form/College)89%

Apprenticeships3%

Employment3%

Not in Education / Employment (NEET)5%

2023

Stayed in Education / Employment

94%

Education (e.g. Sixth Form/College)85%

Apprenticeships3%

Employment7%

Not in Education / Employment (NEET)6%

2022

Stayed in Education / Employment

93%

Education (e.g. Sixth Form/College)87%

Apprenticeships3%

Employment3%

Not in Education / Employment (NEET)7%

2021

Stayed in Education / Employment

96%

Education (e.g. Sixth Form/College)90%

Apprenticeships3%

Employment3%

Not in Education / Employment (NEET)4%

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

21 January 2025

Inspection Report

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04 November 2021

Inspection Report

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24 May 2016

Inspection Report

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04 January 2013

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2025-01-21

S5 Inspection EIF

Not Judged

info

Why no overall grade?

From autumn 2024, Ofsted stopped issuing a single headline grade (Outstanding / Good / RI / Inadequate). Instead, each inspection area is graded individually. This follows a major review after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023. The overall effectiveness field is left as "Not judged" in the published data.

Education

Inadequate

Behaviour

Requires improvement

Development

Requires improvement

Leadership

Requires improvement

2016-05-24

Maintained Academy and School Short inspection Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

2012-01-19

None Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

33.2%per term

warning Above Average

National average: 7.3% for this term (secondary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

8.5%(72 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

5pupils

gavel Exclusion recorded

National average: 7.398% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 843 pupils. During this period, there were 280 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 33.2%, which is above the termly national average of 7.3%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg	Perm. Excl.
2024/25 (Spring term)	843	280	33.2%	7.3%	5
2024/25 (Autumn term)	848	283	33.4%	7.8%	3
2023/24 (Summer term)	897	307	34.2%	7.4%	0
2023/24 (Spring term)	889	342	38.5%	7.1%	3
2023/24 (Autumn term)	883	297	33.6%	8.2%	4
2022/23 (Summer term)	890	265	29.8%	6.6%	2
2022/23 (Spring term)	892	182	20.4%	6.4%	1
2022/23 (Autumn term)	895	145	16.2%	5.9%	0
2021/22 (Summer term)	899	140	15.6%	4.7%	1
2021/22 (Spring term)	897	144	16.1%	4.9%	1
2021/22 (Autumn term)	894	55	6.2%	4.4%	0
2020/21 (Summer term)	901	74	8.2%	3.6%	1
2020/21 (Spring term)	908	21	2.3%	1.0%	1
2020/21 (Autumn term)	907	49	5.4%	3.9%	0
2019/20 (Summer term)	911	0	0.0%	0.0%	0
2019/20 (Spring term)	911	45	4.9%	3.2%	0
2019/20 (Autumn term)	911	85	9.3%	4.2%	1
2018/19 (Summer term)	899	41	4.6%	3.1%	0
2018/19 (Spring term)	903	41	4.5%	3.8%	1
2018/19 (Autumn term)	901	46	5.1%	3.8%	5
2017/18 (Summer term)	845	32	3.8%	3.4%	0
2017/18 (Spring term)	844	12	1.4%	3.0%	0
2017/18 (Autumn term)	849	15	1.8%	3.7%	1
2016/17 (Summer term)	800	5	0.6%	3.0%	0
2016/17 (Spring term)	801	6	0.7%	3.3%	0
2016/17 (Autumn term)	802	7	0.9%	3.1%	1

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 53 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 29 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 22 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 13 pupils

Speech, Language & Communication 12 pupils

Physical Disability 2 pupils

Hearing Impairment 1 pupils

Visual Impairment 1 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 1 pupils

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Venerable Bede Church of England Academy

School Summary

Academic Performance

Secondary Performance Trends (KS4)

Student Destinations (After Secondary)

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Inspection History

Admissions Insight

How Places Are Allocated

Faith Priority (Church of England)

Distance to School

School Capacity

Secondary Admission Trends

Students & School Environment

School Size

Language Diversity

Inclusive Support

Attendance

Ethnicity Breakdown

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Funding & Staffing

School Funding Allocation

Funding Breakdown

Staffing

Teacher Turnover

Top Secondary Schools in Sunderland

Hetton Academy

St Aidan's Catholic Academy

St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy

Southmoor Academy

St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington

Monkwearmouth Academy