Excelsior Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,339 pupils
75% stayed in education · Attainment 8 33.4
Academy converter
Benfield School
- Pupils on roll
- 819of 1,035 places
- Free school meals
- 69.2%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 183
- Ofsted
- Inspected, 7 May 2025Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Benfield School (URN 108526, until 1 April 2017).
What the data says
Benfield School has no sixth form. Of the 175 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 66% to a further education college and 5% started an apprenticeship.
GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 33.5 against 46.1 across England and 43.9 in Newcastle upon Tyne, with 24% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
10% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
As an 11–16 school, Benfield School is judged on where pupils go at 16 rather than on A level results.
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Newcastle upon Tyne and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Benfield School | Newcastle upon Tyne | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 175 | 2,784 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 82% | 86% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 74% | 81% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 9% | 39% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | 0% | 13% |
| — further education college | 66% | 39% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 10% | 9% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 7% | 5% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Benfield School | Newcastle upon Tyne | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 33.5 | 43.9 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 24% | 46% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 43% | 63% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 28% | 41% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.07 | 3.93 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 64% | 47% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 28.4 | 33.3 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 42.7 | 53.2 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 31% | 23% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 174 | 95% | 88% | 11% | 22% | 56% |
| English Language | 174 | 95% | 89% | 11% | 20% | 48% |
| English Literature | 174 | 95% | 86% | 10% | 21% | 50% |
| Combined Science | 155 | 85% | 65% | 5% | 9% | 36% |
| Citizenship Studies | 120 | 66% | 3% | 1% | 19% | 11% |
| Geography | 88 | 48% | 41% | 6% | 25% | 30% |
| History | 82 | 45% | 41% | 12% | 26% | 37% |
| Spanish | 43 | 23% | 19% | 28% | 27% | 88% |
| Computer Science | 40 | 22% | 13% | 3% | 30% | 18% |
| Art and Design | 25 | 14% | 7% | 0% | 24% | 44% |
| Textiles | 18 | 10% | 2% | 0% | 27% | 22% |
| Physics | 17 | 9% | 23% | 53% | 46% | 88% |
| Chemistry | 17 | 9% | 23% | 47% | 47% | 82% |
| Biology | 17 | 9% | 23% | 47% | 45% | 94% |
| Religious Studies | 13 | 7% | 31% | 15% | 32% | 62% |
| Portuguese | 5 | 3% | 0% | — | 50% | — |
| Italian | 4 | 2% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Arabic | 3 | 2% | 1% | — | 47% | — |
| Chinese | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 75% | — |
| Persian | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 77% | — |
| German | 1 | 1% | 5% | — | 33% | — |
| French | 1 | 1% | 18% | — | 29% | — |
| Polish | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Business Management | 72 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 41 | — | — |
| Personal Health | 32 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 29 | — | — |
| Tourism | 16 | — | — |
| Dance: General | 10 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 5 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne
Gosforth Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,925 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 54.4
Jesmond Park Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 2,092 pupils
89% stayed in education · Attainment 8 51.4
Kenton School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,589 pupils
74% stayed in education · Attainment 8 38.7
North East Futures UTC
University technical college · sixth form · 314 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 35.4
Sacred Heart Catholic High School
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,424 pupils
92% stayed in education · Attainment 8 52.1
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.