St Bede's Catholic Primary School
General Information
- Address: Ridge Terrace, Bedlington, NE22 6EQ – View on map
- Phone: 01670822389
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Laura Fallon
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 20 families put it first for 20 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 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 9 · 2026 10
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 26
- % eligible for free school meals: 13.3%
- Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (more mixed than the Northumberland average)
- English as an additional language: 12% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 24% a year (Northumberland 14.4%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 42% moved to another school, 58% 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 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: 4.4%
- Persistently absent pupils: 8.4%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 12.7%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.9%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Specific learning difficulty: 7 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 7 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 7 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
- Physical disability: 2 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
- Physical disability: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Ofsted report card March 2026
Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.
- Safeguarding Met
- Inclusion Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
- Achievement Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
- Early years Expected standard
- Leadership and governance Expected standard
Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Requires improvement (2023). The report card above replaces that grade.
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 66% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 3% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 5 percentage points above the Northumberland average (61%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 47% against an expected 64%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 47%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 72% · Writing 76% · Maths 76% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 76%
- Average test scores: reading 103, maths 104
- Based on: 29 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: 28th of 58 junior and primary schools in the area
- =23Ringway Primary School67%
- =23Wark Church of England Primary School67%
- #28St Bede's Catholic Primary School66%
- #29Ponteland Community Primary School65%
- =30Felton Church of England Primary School64%
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,680 (2024-25)
66th of 124 primary schools in Northumberland for spending per pupil
- #64Whittonstall First School£7,745
- #65Seghill First School£7,690
- #66St Bede's Catholic Primary School£7,680
- #67Felton Church of England Primary School£7,656
- #68Whittingham Church of England Primary School£7,656
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)