John Spence Community High School
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John Spence Community High School is a converter academy in North Shields for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 872 pupils and room for 885. About 51 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 9 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 49% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was requires improvement, back in 2023.
Preston Road, North Shields, NE29 9PU0191 296 1432johnspence.org.ukKatie Marshall headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 6 June 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Requires improvement overall.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
154 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† | North Tyneside | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 154 | 163 | 156 | 160 | 163 | 157 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 41.0 | 41.2 | 43.3 | 41.6 | 43.4 | 42.1 | 47.1 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -0.44 | -0.38 | -0.59 | -0.53 | -0.58 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 29% | 35% | 37% | 36% | 33% | 32% | 43% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 50% | 57% | 66% | 54% | 63% | 58% | 66% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.46 | 3.48 | 3.71 | 3.56 | 3.96 | 3.81 | 4.11 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 7% | 8% | 13% | 23% | 55% | 39% | 33% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 36.4 | 37.8 | 38.9 | 33.4 | 41.0 | 37.3 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 44.1 | 45.3 | 46.3 | 46.3 | 44.7 | 44.2 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 26.2 | 27.1 | 27.7 | – | 27.1 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 58.8 | 56.6 | 57.7 | 51.1 | 52.6 | – | – |
† These results are for John Spence Community High School, the school this one replaced in November 2023. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Subjects
Results came out for 16 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Strongest subjects
Subjects that did worse than the England average: English Literature (38% here, 58% across England), Geography (33% here, 51% across England), Mathematics (36% here, 53% across England), Religious Studies (43% here, 60% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 153 | 9% | 39% | 55% | 54% | 2,648 of 3,210 |
| Mathematics | 150 | 8% | 36% | 61% | 53% | 2,700 of 3,211 |
| English Literature | 149 | 6% | 38% | 52% | 58% | 2,816 of 3,202 |
| Combined Science | 110 | 0% | 28% | 50% | 36% | 2,009 of 3,084 |
| History | 92 | 21% | 41% | 51% | 52% | 2,158 of 3,126 |
| Geography | 60 | 8% | 33% | 50% | 51% | 2,484 of 3,116 |
| Physics | 40 | 35% | 75% | 93% | 82% | 1,786 of 2,546 |
| Chemistry | 40 | 38% | 80% | 95% | 81% | 1,565 of 2,537 |
| Biology | 40 | 43% | 93% | 100% | 82% | 953 of 2,570 |
| Religious Studies | 28 | 14% | 43% | 64% | 60% | 1,524 of 1,825 |
| Design & Technology | 26 | 23% | 54% | 85% | 50% | 609 of 1,478 |
| Physical Education | 17 | 24% | 65% | 82% | 56% | – |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 16 | 19% | 75% | 94% | 52% | – |
| Drama | 16 | 38% | 63% | 69% | 60% | – |
| Art and Design | 11 | 9% | 64% | 100% | 58% | – |
| French | 10 | 50% | 70% | 80% | 60% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
About 67 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up.
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 North Tyneside council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
Specialist SEND provision. Resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school), for moderate 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 North Tyneside with moderate learning difficulties provision.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (71), Specific learning difficulty (42), language and communications needs (31), Autistic spectrum disorder (27), Moderate learning difficulty (26), Other difficulty or disability (8).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 872 | 812 | 852 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 51% | 49% | 44% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 6% | 5% | 3% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 16% | 13% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 4% | 4% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 90.5% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23† | 2021/22† | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 9.5% | 11.1% | 9.4% | 10.0% | 6.3% | 5.6% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.8% | 5.8% | 5.5% | 6.6% | 5.0% | 3.5% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 4.8% | 5.3% | 4.0% | 3.4% | 1.3% | 2.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 25.1% | 31.0% | 27.2% | 32.8% | 19.1% | 15.2% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 26.1 | 22.2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 7 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – |
† These attendance figures are for John Spence Community High School, the school this one replaced in November 2023. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 156 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 78%, compared with 96% for everyone else.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary 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 secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marden High School | Foundation | 850 m | 1,014 | Good 2022 | 82 | Compare |
| Monkseaton High School | Foundation | 0.8 miles | 155 | No overall grade 2025 | 17 | Compare |
| St Thomas More Catholic High School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 1,660 | Good 2023 | 57 | Compare |
| Kings Priory School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 1,549 | Good 2024 | 90 | Compare |
| Marden Bridge Middle School | Foundation | 1.1 miles | 577 | Not inspected | 55 | Compare |
| Monkseaton Coastal School | Foundation | 1.2 miles | 203 | Good 2021 | 11 | Compare |
| Norham High School | Foundation | 1.4 miles | 498 | Good 2022 | 44 | Compare |
| Valley Gardens Middle School | Foundation | 1.8 miles | 768 | No overall grade 2024 | 94 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares John Spence Community High School with the 47 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 47 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher
Of those 47 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than John Spence Community High School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hebburn Comprehensive School | Council | 4.5 miles | 857 | Report card 2025 | 24 | Compare |
| The Blyth Academy | Academy | 8.0 miles | 766 | Good 2021 | 53 | Compare |
| Kepier | Academy | 12.6 miles | 1,131 | Good 2022 | 29 | Compare |
| Seaham High School | Academy | 13.1 miles | 1,095 | Good 2023 | 35 | Compare |
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 9 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 9% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 7 to 13. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 20% | below | -0.20 | 2025 results; 154 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 19% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | well below | -0.46 | Ofsted grade, 3.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | below | -0.12 | Contextualised attainment (no DfE progress measure available); 154 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 0% | no data | – | |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | -0.04 | 2024/25; 849 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | below | -0.06 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 154 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | below | -0.05 | 156 pupils |
| What parents say | 0% | no data | – |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is John Spence Community High School a good school?
The figures are weak. John Spence Community High School scores 9 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 49% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 7 to 13, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is John Spence Community High School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated John Spence Community High School requires improvement at its last full inspection on 6 June 2023.
How good are John Spence Community High School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 29% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 41.0, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about half a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does John Spence Community High School have?
872 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 885 places, so it is 99% full.
Is John Spence Community High School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 67 places were empty in 2024/25 (8% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at John Spence Community High School?
Pupils were in school 90.5% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 25% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at John Spence Community High School?
The average class had 22.4 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 3% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does John Spence Community High School have specialist SEND provision?
Yes. It has resourced provision (extra staff and funding within a mainstream school) for moderate learning difficulties. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.
Does John Spence Community High School have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship; 88% of 2022/23 leavers were still in education, work or training six months on.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Preston Road, North Shields, NE29 9PU
- Telephone
- 0191 296 1432
- Website
- www.johnspence.org.uk
- Headteacher
- Katie Marshall
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Pele Trust (14 schools)
- Local authority
- North Tyneside
- Ward
- Tynemouth
- Constituency
- Tynemouth
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 November 2023 (academy converter)
- URN
- 150195 · LAESTAB 3924038 · UKPRN 10093473
- Formerly
- John Spence Community High 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.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 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.