Hill Top School
Hill Top School is a council special school in Gateshead for boys and girls aged 11 to 19. It has 127 pupils, 7 more than it has places for. About 66 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2024.
Wealcroft, Felling, Gateshead, NE10 8LT0191 469 2462Ms Anita Bell executive headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
A shorter visit on 14 February 2024 found nothing to change the school's grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall. A shorter follow-up visit found nothing to change that. The last full inspection was before September 2019, which is as far back as Ofsted's public records go, so we can't show its date or the grades for each area.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
21 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | Gateshead | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 21 | 18 | 20 | 24 | 18 | 21 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | – | – | 1.4 | – | – | – | 46.8 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | – | -1.68 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | – | – | 5% | – | – | – | 48% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | – | – | 5% | – | – | – | 68% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | – | – | 0.08 | – | – | – | 4.18 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | – | – | 0% | – | – | – | 48% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | – | – | 0.2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | – | – | 4.0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | – | 0.8 | – | – | – | – | – |
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 autism.
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 autism provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Autistic spectrum disorder (71), Moderate learning difficulty (19), language and communications needs (19), Severe learning difficulty (5), Specific learning difficulty (4), Physical disability (3).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 127 | 135 | 130 | 131 | 129 | 128 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 62% | 56% | 54% | 54% | 48% | 45% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 13% | 13% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 7% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 100% | 100% | 100% | 99% | 99% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.3% 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 | 7.7% | 9.6% | 12.4% | 10.2% | 8.1% | 7.5% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 5.4% | 6.4% | 9.2% | 8.1% | 6.6% | 5.9% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.3% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 2.1% | 1.5% | 1.6% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 20.8% | 27.5% | 35.0% | 30.2% | 26.5% | 18.2% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 5.5 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 20 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 100%, compared with 100% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 100% | 96% | 80% | 95% |
| Education | 95% | 96% | 80% | 90% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 5% | 0% | 0% | 5% |
| Not in education, work or training | 0% | 0% | 5% | 5% |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fell Dyke Community Primary School | Council | 760 m | 286 | Good 2022 | 16 | Compare |
| Roman Road Primary School | Council | 780 m | 210 | Good 2023 | 19 | Compare |
| Larkspur Community Primary School | Council | 0.6 miles | 154 | No overall grade 2024 | 7 | Compare |
| Cardinal Hume Catholic School, Gateshead | Academy | 0.7 miles | 1,505 | Outstanding 2024 | 90 | Compare |
| St Oswald's Catholic Primary, Wrekenton | Academy | 0.7 miles | 191 | No overall grade 2024 | 48 | Compare |
| St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Gateshead | Academy | 0.7 miles | 320 | Good 2024 | 69 | Compare |
| Furrowfield School | Council | 0.7 miles | 101 | Good 2022 | – | Compare |
| Windy Nook Primary School | Council | 0.8 miles | 332 | Good 2023 | 39 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Hill Top School a good school?
Hill Top School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in February 2024.
What is Hill Top School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Hill Top School good at its last full inspection on 14 February 2024.
How many pupils does Hill Top School have?
127 pupils aged 11 to 19 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 120 places, so it is 106% full.
What is attendance like at Hill Top School?
Pupils were in school 92.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 21% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
Does Hill Top School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It is a special school for autism. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does Hill Top 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
- Wealcroft, Felling, Gateshead, NE10 8LT
- Telephone
- 0191 469 2462
- Executive Headteacher
- Ms Anita Bell
- Type of school
- Council special school (Community special school, special schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 11-19, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Gateshead
- Ward
- Windy Nook and Whitehills
- Constituency
- Jarrow and Gateshead East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 1997
- URN
- 130942 · LAESTAB 3907008 · UKPRN 10015770
- Formerly
- Joicey Road School, Hewburn 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.