Walker Riverside Academy

Newcastle upon Tyne · NE6 4AW

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1101 pupils, 70.4% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN SEN unit · 24% on SEN support Behaviour 12.1% absence rate Staff 13.5% turnover Financials £9,687 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Walker Riverside Academy

General Information

Address: Waverdale Avenue, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE6 4AW – View on map
Phone: 01912958660
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Michael Collier
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 276 families put it first for 219 places – 13 for every 10 places. 74% of them were offered a place. 4 of the 219 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 13 · 2024 14 · 2025 12 · 2026 13
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1101 pupils out of 1301 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 772
% eligible for free school meals: 70.4%
Pupil mix: 4 in 10 (less mixed than the Newcastle upon Tyne average)
English as an additional language: 14% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 13.5% a year (Newcastle upon Tyne 12.9%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 50% moved to another school, 50% 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

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Newcastle upon Tyne: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 27 (1.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 39 (2.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 28 (1.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne, 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: 12.1%
Persistently absent pupils: 31.8%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

SEN unit for Autism 12 places · 12 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 24.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 5.1%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 96 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 53 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 34 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 33 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 30 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 18 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 13 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 12 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 6 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 3 pupils

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

No overall grade given 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Attainment 8 score: 35.5
Compared with the area: 9.7 points below the Newcastle upon Tyne average (45.2)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (+1.2 points against an expected 34.3)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 48% (Newcastle upon Tyne 65%, England 65%) Improving
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolNewcastle upon Tyne averageEngland↗ Improving Up 2.1 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 9.7 points below the Newcastle upon Tyne average (45.2).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

8th of 12 secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for Attainment 8

#6Walbottle Academy46.6
#7Kenton School38.7
#8Walker Riverside Academy35.5
#9North East Futures UTC35.4
#10Benfield School33.5

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1St Mary's Catholic School58.9
#2Gosforth Academy54.4
#3Sacred Heart Catholic High School52.1
#4Jesmond Park Academy51.4
#5St Cuthbert's High School49.0
#6Walbottle Academy46.6
#7Kenton School38.7
#8Walker Riverside Academy35.5
#9North East Futures UTC35.4
#10Benfield School33.5
#11Excelsior Academy33.4
#12Studio West30.9

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 77.0%
Went into further education: 70.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

English Language
Maths (General)
English Literature
Science Double Award
History
Geography
Spanish
Art & Design
Business Studies
Photography
French Language
Biology
Physics (General)
Chemistry (General)
Arabic
Portuguese
Italian
Statistics
Chinese

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £9,687 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

3rd of 17 secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for spending per pupil

#1Excelsior Academy£9,978
#2Studio West£9,689
#3Walker Riverside Academy£9,687
#4Kenton School£9,664
#5Benfield School£9,569

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Excelsior Academy£9,978
#2Studio West£9,689
#3Walker Riverside Academy£9,687
#4Kenton School£9,664
#5Benfield School£9,569
#6North East Futures UTC£9,075
#7Callerton Academy£8,489
#8Sacred Heart Catholic High School£8,193
#9St Cuthbert's High School£8,116
#10Walbottle Academy£7,640
#11Gosforth Academy£7,626
#12St Mary's Catholic School£7,511
#13Jesmond Park Academy£7,484
#14Gosforth Junior High Academy£6,907
#15Great Park Academy£6,856
#16Gosforth Central Middle School£6,736
#17Gosforth East Middle School£6,673

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Newcastle upon Tyne: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered