Dryden School
Dryden School is a council special school in Gateshead for boys and girls aged 11 to 18. It has 77 pupils. About 57 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England.
Shotley Gardens, Low Fell, Gateshead, Gateshead, NE9 5UR0191 420 3812drydenschool.co.ukMrs Elizabeth Johnson headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
11 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
The government hasn't published this school's headline results. That usually means the year group was too small to publish without identifying children.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Gateshead council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
Specialist SEND provision. A special school for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties.
To get a place in the unit or resourced provision, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school. Other schools in Gateshead with profound and multiple learning difficulties provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (29), Severe learning difficulty (24), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (13), language and communications needs (4), Moderate learning difficulty (2), Physical disability (2).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 77 | 71 | 65 | 57 | 55 | 49 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 55% | 47% | 42% | 39% | 35% | 37% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 13% | 14% | 12% | 9% | 6% | 4% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 99% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 91.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 8.8% | 10.2% | 10.0% | 9.2% | 7.1% | 10.0% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 8.2% | 9.9% | 9.4% | 8.9% | 6.9% | 8.2% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 1.8% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 25.4% | 24.0% | 29.3% | 24.4% | 18.2% | 34.4% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.1 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 8 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2018/19 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Education | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Peter's Catholic Primary School, Low Fell | Academy | 160 m | 213 | Good 2020 | 95 | Compare |
| River Tyne Academy Gateshead | Academy alternative provision sponsor led | 470 m | 98 | Good 2022 | – | Compare |
| Kells Lane Primary School | Council | 730 m | 453 | Good 2022 | 81 | Compare |
| Carr Hill Community Primary School | Council | 810 m | 308 | Good 2023 | 64 | Compare |
| Gibside School | Council | 860 m | 211 | Outstanding 2022 | – | Compare |
| Glynwood Community Primary School | Council | 870 m | 423 | No overall grade 2024 | 20 | Compare |
| South Street Community Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 232 | Good 2024 | 79 | Compare |
| Kelvin Grove Community Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 309 | Report card 2026 | 42 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Dryden School a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score Dryden School yet.
How many pupils does Dryden School have?
77 pupils aged 11 to 18 were on the roll in January 2026.
What is attendance like at Dryden School?
Pupils were in school 91.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 25% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Dryden School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for profound and multiple learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Dryden School have a sixth form?
Yes.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Shotley Gardens, Low Fell, Gateshead, Gateshead, NE9 5UR
- Telephone
- 0191 420 3812
- Website
- drydenschool.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Elizabeth Johnson
- Type of school
- Council special school (Community special school, special schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-18, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Gateshead
- Ward
- Low Fell
- Constituency
- Gateshead Central and Whickham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 1997
- URN
- 131200 · LAESTAB 3907009 · UKPRN 10015459
- Formerly
- High Fell School, Bleach Green School
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.