School Chooser

Newsham Primary School

Primary · ages 3-11MixedCouncil452 pupilsNursery Free breakfast clubBlythNorthumberland
School Chooser Score
15
Well below
similar schools
Likely range 8 to 26, so it could be “below”
Out of 100. Better than 27% of the 50 schools most like it. Much the same over the last five years.
OfstedNo overall gradeLast Ofsted inspection, May 2025
Reached the expected level at 1143%England 63%
Attendance95.0%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families41%Far more than most schools
Places5 spare452 pupils, 457 places
Pupils per teacher20.5School workforce census

Newsham Primary School is a council school in Blyth for boys and girls aged 3 to 11. It has 452 pupils and room for 457. About 41 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 15 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 27% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.

Warwick Street, Blyth, NE24 4NX01670 353124newshamprimary.co.ukMr Neil Jones headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 7 May 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Good
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Good
Early years
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes
Earlier inspections (1)
DateTypeOutcome
4 December 2019UngradedSchool remains Good

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

56 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1143%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level4%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score102.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score102.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 42%42%20172018: 60%60%20182019: 63%63%20192023: 43%43%20232024: 42%42%20242025: 43%43%2025
Since 2017: +1%Steady overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017NorthumberlandEngland
Pupils tested565960564559
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths43%42%43%63%60%42%60%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths4%0%0%11%11%7%7%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score102.0102.0104.0103.0105.098.0104.5105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score102.0100.0101.0105.0103.0100.0103.6104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score102.0101.0101.0104.0107.0101.0103.7105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard57%61%68%70%78%46%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard54%49%57%79%71%61%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)66%56%62%80%80%71%
Reading progressReading progress score-1.8-0.9-0.7-2.3
Maths progressMaths progress score-3.4+0.1-1.3-0.9
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged26%44%37%43%48%31%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged51%41%48%76%71%58%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

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. 1 of the 3 gaps 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 the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
26%51%
Gap 25 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
34%52%
Gap 18 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
0%4%
Gap 4 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

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

Admissions policy not published.

Catchment area

Northumberland council has drawn an official catchment area for this school. You can see it on the map below; it covers about 1.0 square kilometres. Living inside it moves your child up the queue when there are more applicants than places. It doesn't guarantee a place: the council's admissions rules decide the order.

Set your home postcode at the top of the page to see whether you live inside it.

Nearly full404 pupils for 420 places, 2024/25
96% full

Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have stayed about the same since 2021/22.

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 Northumberland council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

What a home inside the catchment costs

Typical sale price inside the catchment£127,500half sold for £100k to £172k
Homes sold86December 2023 to December 2025, Land Registry
Compared with the district-39%a typical home in the district sells for £209,085

Every home sold inside the council's catchment area, of any type, from HM Land Registry records. If homes here cost more than the district average, that is the price people pay to live close enough to get in.

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.

Pupils on roll452Census January 2026
Places45799% full
Pupils from low-income families39%41% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English6%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support18%80 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan6%28 pupils with a plan
Average class size27.915 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils27%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)42%£260,400 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls248 / 204
White British pupils91%

Specialist SEND provision. SEN unit with 21 pupils, for autism, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication.

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 Northumberland with autism provision.

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 27.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 30.4 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (53), emotional and mental health (29), Autistic spectrum disorder (13), Moderate learning difficulty (6), Specific learning difficulty (5), Physical disability (2).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll452447439453455448
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals39%36%35%33%31%31%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language6%6%6%6%6%5%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support18%18%16%15%13%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans5%4%2%2%2%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.0% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.0%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school12.9%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils0.02024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.2%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence5.1%6.2%5.9%7.6%4.3%4.7%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.8%4.2%4.2%5.7%3.4%3.0%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.2%1.9%1.7%1.9%0.9%1.7%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence12.9%14.7%17.0%23.2%14.2%10.9%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate0.00.20.00.00.5
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers21.5full-time equivalent, 24 people
Pupils per teacher20.5Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants29.9full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£49,524
Teachers who left in the year5%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher6.52024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£7,035England £7,738. Total £3.1m
Income per pupil£6,887England £7,697. Total £3.0m
Spent on teachers per pupil£3,212England £3,480
Money in reserve-2%In the red: -£59k, -£134 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out-£64kit spent more than it took in this year
Where the money goes£7,035spent per pupil

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

Crimes within 500 m61712 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate94 per 1,000 peopleabout the England average
Typical house price£207,950Northumberland
Nearest bus stop60 mWharton Street, 13 stops within 500 m

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 primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
New Delaval Primary SchoolCouncil570 m219Good 202416Compare
Bede AcademyAcademy690 m2,030Good 202460Compare
St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary SchoolAcademy0.8 miles217Requires improvement 20235Compare
Malvin's Close AcademyAcademy0.9 miles437Outstanding 202382Compare
Croftway AcademyAcademy0.9 miles416Outstanding 202393Compare
Morpeth Road AcademyAcademy1.2 miles253Outstanding 202255Compare
Horton Grange Primary SchoolCouncil1.3 miles550Outstanding 202383Compare
New Hartley First SchoolCouncil2.1 miles165No overall grade 202570Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Newsham Primary School with the 49 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 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats27%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the lower half of its group. Its score of 15 is 29 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 0 · middle 44 · highest 95100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 49 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Newsham Primary 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.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Malvin's Close AcademyAcademy0.9 miles437Outstanding 202382Compare
Denbigh Community Primary SchoolAcademy8.0 miles436No overall grade 202591Compare
Ashley AcademyAcademy10.2 miles396No overall grade 202537Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 15 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 15% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 8 to 26. That range is wide enough that the school could sit in the next band, so take the band as a rough guide rather than a verdict. 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 atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%below
-0.24
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 56 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%in line
+0.01
Ofsted grade, 1.4 years old
Progress pupils make20%below
-0.21
DfE progress measure; 56 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%in line
+0.01
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%in line
+0.00
2024/25; 356 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%well below
-0.11
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 56 pupils
What parents say0%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 Newsham Primary School a good school?

The figures are weak. Newsham Primary School scores 15 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 27% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 8 to 26, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

What is Newsham Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Newsham Primary School not judged at its last full inspection on 7 May 2025.

How good are Newsham Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 43% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 4% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Newsham Primary School have?

452 pupils aged 3 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 457 places, so it is 99% full.

Is Newsham Primary School oversubscribed?

Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.

What is attendance like at Newsham Primary School?

Pupils were in school 95.0% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 13% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Newsham Primary School?

The average class had 27.9 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. 27% of classes had more than 30 pupils.

Does Newsham Primary School have specialist SEND provision?

Yes. It has sen unit for autism, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health, speech, language and communication. To get a place there, a child normally needs an education, health and care plan (EHCP) that names the school.

Does Newsham Primary School have a breakfast club?

Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
Warwick Street, Blyth, NE24 4NX
Telephone
01670 353124
Website
www.newshamprimary.co.uk
Headteacher
Mr Neil Jones
Free breakfast club
Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 3-11, with nursery
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Northumberland
Ward
Newsham
Constituency
Blyth and Ashington
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
122261 · LAESTAB 9292415 · UKPRN 10072491
Formerly
Blyth Princess Louise First School

Where these figures come from