Outwood Academy Riverside
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Outwood Academy Riverside is a free school in Middlesbrough for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 745 pupils and room for 1,050. About 64 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 39 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 40% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2023.
100 Russell Street, Middlehaven, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AD01642 549950Mrs Melissa Brant-Smith headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 17 May 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
109 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 | Middlesbrough | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 109 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 43.2 | – | – | 41.3 | 46.8 |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 28% | – | – | 36% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 63% | – | – | 58% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.94 | – | – | 3.56 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 48% | – | – | 28% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 39.2 | – | – | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 52.4 | – | – | – | – |
Subjects
Results came out for 13 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.
Subjects that did worse than the England average: Biology (41% here, 82% across England), Mathematics (31% here, 53% across England), Art and Design (37% here, 58% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 108 | 9% | 31% | 66% | 53% | 2,943 of 3,211 |
| English Literature | 108 | 17% | 61% | 76% | 58% | 1,181 of 3,202 |
| English Language | 108 | 20% | 56% | 76% | 54% | 1,310 of 3,210 |
| Combined Science | 91 | 3% | 36% | 64% | 36% | 1,384 of 3,084 |
| History | 71 | 27% | 52% | 58% | 52% | 1,437 of 3,126 |
| Spanish | 51 | 31% | 61% | 80% | 54% | 767 of 1,941 |
| Geography | 33 | 15% | 49% | 52% | 51% | 1,513 of 3,116 |
| Art and Design | 19 | 11% | 37% | 63% | 58% | – |
| Biology | 17 | 41% | 41% | 41% | 82% | – |
| Computer Science | 14 | 14% | 50% | 71% | 56% | – |
| Music | 10 | 0% | 30% | 30% | 61% | – |
| Chemistry | 7 | 100% | 100% | 100% | 81% | – |
| Physics | 7 | 100% | 100% | 100% | 82% | – |
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. 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 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.
371 places were empty (35% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in. Pupil numbers have grown by 189% since 2021/22.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place (206 offers for 210 places).
| Entry | Places | Got a place | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Secondary | 210 | 206 | – all offered | LA |
| 2025 Secondary | 150 | 183 | – all offered | LA |
| 2024 Secondary | 150 | 150 | 1.1 miles | LA |
| 2023 Secondary | 120 | 120 | 0.9 miles | LA |
| 2022 Secondary | 150 | 121 | – all offered | LA |
The distances are the council's own, usually measured in a straight line from home to the school gate. If the distance is getting shorter each year, the school is getting harder to get into. See which councils we have this data for.
What a home within 1.1 miles of the school costs
Every home sold within that distance of the school (the typical cut-off over the last three years), 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.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Moderate learning difficulty (55), emotional and mental health (52), SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need (23), language and communications needs (13), Specific learning difficulty (7), Autistic spectrum disorder (6).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 745 | 690 | 556 | 448 | 219 | 95 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 64% | 63% | 61% | 61% | 59% | 68% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 56% | 51% | 46% | 44% | 34% | 22% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 24% | 25% | 20% | 22% | 34% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 0% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.5% 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 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 7.5% | 10.5% | 9.8% | 8.4% | 8.2% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.8% | 5.7% | 5.2% | 4.9% | 5.1% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 3.8% | 4.7% | 4.6% | 3.4% | 3.1% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 23.3% | 31.3% | 30.8% | 31.8% | 33.6% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 33.2 | 122.1 | 75.7 | 39.3 | 40.0 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 8 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 2 | – |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macmillan Academy | Academy | 1.6 miles | 1,586 | Good 2022 | 44 | Compare |
| Lift Unity City | Academy | 1.7 miles | 1,033 | Report card 2026 | 4 | Compare |
| Trinity Catholic College | Academy | 2.1 miles | 1,270 | No overall grade 2024 | 18 | Compare |
| Outwood Academy Acklam | Academy | 2.3 miles | 1,201 | No overall grade 2025 | 44 | Compare |
| St Peter's Catholic College | Academy | 2.3 miles | 572 | Good 2022 | 14 | Compare |
| Outwood Academy Ormesby | Academy | 2.5 miles | 698 | Report card 2025 | 3 | Compare |
| Acklam Grange School | Academy | 2.6 miles | 1,452 | Good 2022 | 68 | Compare |
| Outwood Academy Normanby | Academy | 2.7 miles | 787 | Report card 2026 | 3 | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Outwood Academy Riverside 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.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 39 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 39% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 29 to 51. 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 | -0.08 | 2025 results; 109 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 19% (normally 20%, cut because the inspection is old) | in line | +0.02 | Ofsted grade, 3.3 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | below | -0.10 | Contextualised attainment (no DfE progress measure available); 109 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | +0.03 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | in line | +0.01 | 2024/25; 777 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | below | -0.05 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 109 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 0% | no data | – | |
| 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 Outwood Academy Riverside a good school?
It is about average. Outwood Academy Riverside scores 39 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 40% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 29 to 51, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Outwood Academy Riverside's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Outwood Academy Riverside good at its last full inspection on 17 May 2023.
How good are Outwood Academy Riverside's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 28% 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 43.2, against 46.8 for England.
How many pupils does Outwood Academy Riverside have?
745 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,050 places, so it is 71% full.
Is Outwood Academy Riverside oversubscribed?
Probably not. 371 places were empty in 2024/25 (35% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Outwood Academy Riverside?
Pupils were in school 92.5% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 23% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Outwood Academy Riverside?
The average class had 22.2 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 6% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Outwood Academy Riverside have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 100 Russell Street, Middlehaven, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AD
- Telephone
- 01642 549950
- Headteacher
- Mrs Melissa Brant-Smith
- Type of school
- Free school (Free schools, free schools)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Outwood Grange Academies Trust (40 schools)
- Local authority
- Middlesbrough
- Ward
- Central
- Constituency
- Middlesbrough and Thornaby East
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 September 2020 (new provision)
- URN
- 147848 · LAESTAB 8064003 · UKPRN 10086701
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.
- Admissions outcomes: Middlesbrough council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
- House prices: HM Land Registry price paid data, December 2023 to December 2025, placed by postcode.
- 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.