Bedlington Whitley Memorial Church of England Primary School
General Information
- Address: Gordon Terrace, Bedlington, NE22 5DE – View on map
- Phone: 01670822994
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Headteacher Stephanie Roome
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 17 families put it first for 18 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 8 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Church of England
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 90
- % eligible for free school meals: 40.0%
- Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (more mixed than the Northumberland average)
- English as an additional language: 8% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 13.5% a year (Northumberland 14.4%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 19% moved to another school, 81% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Northumberland: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 1 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in Northumberland, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 7.1%
- Persistently absent pupils: 23.4%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 23.6%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 6.4%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Social, emotional and mental health: 24 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 22 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 5 pupils
- Hearing impairment: 2 pupils
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Social, emotional and mental health: 7 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 6 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Hearing impairment: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Requires improvement 2023 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 31% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 4% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 30 percentage points below the Northumberland average (61%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 35% against an expected 57%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 35%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 48% · Writing 52% · Maths 42% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 44%
- Average test scores: reading 98, maths 97
- Based on: 52 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: 56th of 58 junior and primary schools in the area
- #54NCEA Bishop's Primary School36%
- #55Stakeford Primary School32%
- #56Bedlington Whitley Memorial Church of England Primary School31%
- #57NCEA William Leech CofE Primary School29%
- #58NCEA Grace Darling CofE Primary School24%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
105th of 107 primary schools in Northumberland for Ofsted rating
- #103Whittonstall First SchoolGood
- #104Wylam First SchoolGood
- #105Bedlington Whitley Memorial Church of England Primary SchoolRequires improvement
- #106Cramlington Village Primary SchoolRequires improvement
- #107St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary SchoolRequires improvement
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,431 (2024-25)
75th of 124 primary schools in Northumberland for spending per pupil
- #73Stannington First School£7,534
- #74Swarland Primary School£7,462
- #75Bedlington Whitley Memorial Church of England Primary School£7,431
- #76Shaftoe Trust Academy£7,385
- #77Broomley First School£7,365
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)