Performance Data

KS5 Academic Highlights

Longbenton High School Sixth Form continues to provide a strong academic pathway for students who want to continue their studies in a supportive school setting.

The 2025 Sixth Form results show an average A Level grade of C+, reflecting solid academic outcomes across the Sixth Form.

The average points score per A Level entry was 31.45, placing the school within the C+ grade range.

A major headline is that 21.4% of students achieved AAB or higher, including at least 2 facilitating subjects.

This is particularly strong because it is above both the Local Authority average of 17.2% and the England average of 17.5%.

This measure matters because facilitating subjects include subjects such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Geography, History, English Literature and languages. The DfE technical guidance identifies these facilitating subjects as part of the AAB measure.

Students achieved particularly strong outcomes in high value academic subjects, including average grades of A in Mathematics*, A in Chemistry, and B grades in Biology and Sociology.

This gives the Sixth Form a very positive academic story. Students are not just passing courses. A strong proportion are achieving highly in the subjects most closely linked to competitive university courses and ambitious future pathways.

KS5 Headline Messages

• Longbenton Sixth Form students continue to achieve solid academic outcomes.
• The proportion achieving AAB or higher in facilitating subjects is above both local and national averages.
• Mathematics and Chemistry are particular areas of academic strength.
• Students are achieving well in subjects that support progression to university, apprenticeships and professional careers.
• The Sixth Form offers a strong and ambitious academic route for students who want to continue their studies in a school environment.
• The school continues to support students into meaningful next steps through a combination of academic teaching, guidance and personal support.

Absence and Pupil Population Highlights

Longbenton High School serves a large, diverse and genuinely comprehensive school community.

The school had 950 pupils on roll, with 483 boys and 467 girls, creating an almost evenly balanced pupil population.

The school was 86% full against a capacity of 1,105 places, showing that Longbenton remains a significant secondary school and Sixth Form within the local area.

The pupil population reflects the school’s inclusive role. 33.1% of pupils were eligible for free school meals, which is higher than the national figure for all schools in England of 25.7% in the 2024 to 2025 pupil characteristics release.

The school also supports a significant number of pupils with additional needs. 29.3% of pupils were identified with SEND, including 3.7% with an Education, Health and Care Plan and 25.6% receiving SEN Support.

6.5% of pupils spoke English as an additional language, showing that the school supports students from a range of backgrounds and starting points.

The school had a pupil to teacher ratio of 15.4 to 1, supported by 61.8 full time equivalent teachers.

Attendance remains a clear priority. The school’s overall absence figure was 10.3%, and persistent absence was 29.4%. This is an area for continued focus, but it also needs to be understood in the context of a school serving a broad intake with a high level of need.

The key message is that Longbenton is an inclusive school serving a complex and diverse community. Attendance improvement remains central to the school’s work because every day in school matters, and stronger attendance will help unlock even stronger academic outcomes.

Absence and Pupil Population Headline Messages

• Longbenton serves a large and diverse school community.
• The school has a balanced pupil population.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is above the national figure.
• The school supports a significant number of pupils with SEND.
• Longbenton plays an important inclusive role in the local area.
• Attendance remains a key priority and is central to the school’s improvement work.
• The school continues to work with pupils, families and wider partners to improve attendance, strengthen routines and help every student achieve their full potential.

Ofsted

Longbenton High School was last inspected by Ofsted on 28 and 29 June 2022, when the school was judged to be Good overall. This inspection took place under the inspection framework that was in place at the time, before Ofsted introduced its new 2025 report card approach. You can read the school’s latest Ofsted inspection report here: Longbenton High School Ofsted Report, June 2022.

The 2022 inspection recognised many important strengths across the school. Ofsted judged the quality of education, personal development, leadership and management and Sixth Form provision to be Good. Inspectors also described Longbenton as a caring school, where pupils enjoy school, feel safe, and are supported by staff who know them well.

Since that inspection, Ofsted has changed the way schools are inspected and reported on. Under the new 2025 approach, Ofsted no longer gives one overall judgement such as Good, Outstanding or Requires Improvement. Instead, future inspections will use a report card system, with separate grades for different areas of school life, such as achievement, attendance and behaviour, personal development and wellbeing, inclusion, curriculum, teaching, leadership and safeguarding.

Longbenton High School has not yet been inspected under the new 2025 Ofsted framework. This means that the school’s current published Ofsted judgement remains the Good judgement from June 2022, while any future inspection will be reported in the new format rather than as a single overall grade.

Ofsted explains that the new grades cannot be directly compared with the old overall judgements because they are part of a different approach to inspection. This means that Longbenton’s 2022 Good judgement remains the school’s latest published inspection outcome, but the next inspection will provide a more detailed report card showing the school’s strengths and areas for development across several separate areas.

You can view all published Ofsted reports for Longbenton High School here: Longbenton High School Ofsted Reports Page.

Ofsted Parent View

Ofsted Parent View gives parents and carers the opportunity to share their views about Longbenton High School directly with Ofsted. Parents can complete the survey at any time, as well as during an inspection, and their responses help Ofsted understand parents’ experiences of the school. You can access the Longbenton High School Parent View page here: Longbenton High School Ofsted Parent View.

The survey asks parents and carers about important aspects of school life, including whether their child feels safe, happy and able to belong and thrive, as well as how the school promotes positive behaviour and a culture where every pupil can achieve and feel respected. Where relevant, parents are also asked about how well the school supports pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

Ofsted uses Parent View responses to help plan inspections, inform discussions with school leaders and support decisions about when schools should be inspected. The published results are anonymised, and Ofsted only shows school level results when enough responses have been received for the relevant time period.

Ofsted updated the Parent View survey questions on 10 November 2025 so that they align with the renewed Ofsted inspection framework.

We encourage parents and carers to use Ofsted Parent View as one way of sharing their views about the school. Feedback from families is important, and it helps both Ofsted and the school understand what is working well and where further improvements can be made. Parents and carers can submit their views here: Give your views through Ofsted Parent View.