Burnside Academy Inspires
General Information
- Address: Burnside Estate, Houghton le Spring, DH4 5HB – View on map
- Phone: 01915120466
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs L Kelly
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 21 families put it first for 22 places – 10 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 6 · 2024 10 · 2025 9 · 2026 10
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 71
- % eligible for free school meals: 44.4%
- Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (less mixed than the Sunderland average)
- English as an additional language: 7% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 11.2% a year (Sunderland 12.6%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 100% moved to another school, 0% 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. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Sunderland: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 1 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 4 (0.2 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 Sunderland, 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: 4.8%
- Persistently absent pupils: 6.6%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 29.9%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.7%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Moderate learning difficulty: 18 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 15 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 14 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
- Other difficulty or disability: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2014 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 57% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 9 percentage points below the Sunderland average (66%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 62% against an expected 44%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 62%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 64% · Writing 57% · Maths 57% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 64%
- Average test scores: reading 103, maths 97
- Based on: 14 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: joint 59th of 75 junior and primary schools in the area
- =57St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Ryhope58%
- =59Albany Village Primary School57%
- =59Burnside Academy Inspires57%
- =61Broadway Junior School55%
- =61Hasting Hill Academy55%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
9th of 50 primary schools in Sunderland for Ofsted rating
- #7Barmston Village Primary SchoolGood
- #8Biddick Primary SchoolGood
- #9Burnside Academy InspiresGood
- #10Castletown Primary SchoolGood
- #11Dame Dorothy Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,298 (2024-25)
24th of 67 primary schools in Sunderland for spending per pupil
- #22Lambton Primary School£7,477
- #23Willow Wood Community Primary School£7,332
- #24Burnside Academy Inspires£7,298
- #25Hudson Road Primary School£7,277
- #26Shiney Row Primary School£7,169
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)