Beacon of Light School
- Alternative provision
- Free schools alternative provision
- Ages 13 to 16
URN 142882 · Sunderland · THE LAIDLAW SCHOOLS TRUST
Inspection
Ofsted management information, as at 30 September 2026.
Latest graded inspection
19 September 2023Overall effectiveness
Good
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding is effective
- Yes
Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 1
Under the earlier framework, inspections gave an overall effectiveness grade.
Earlier graded inspection
2 July 2019Overall effectiveness
Requires improvement
Under the earlier framework, inspections gave an overall effectiveness grade.
Read the reports on Ofsted’s website. Source: Ofsted, State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information.
Suspensions and permanent exclusions
Against Sunderland and England, alternative provision.
Suspensions per 100 pupils
2024/25Not publishedNot published for this school
- Sunderland
- 306.25
- England
- 248.42
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 215.38 | 158.40 |
| 2018/19 | Not published | 286.00 | 191.09 |
| 2019/20 | 13,700.00 | 305.34 | 141.01 |
| 2020/21 | 12,800.00 | 252.73 | 139.24 |
| 2021/22 | Not published | 547.62 | 257.87 |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 453.06 | 284.98 |
| 2023/24 | Not published | 313.60 | 253.49 |
| 2024/25 | Not published | 306.25 | 248.42 |
Suspensions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. One pupil can be suspended more than once. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, 2024/25.
Permanent exclusions per 100 pupils
2024/25Not publishedNot published for this school
- Sunderland
- 0.00
- England
- 0.30
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.16 |
| 2018/19 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.22 |
| 2019/20 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.11 |
| 2020/21 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.13 |
| 2021/22 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.22 |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.34 |
| 2023/24 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.25 |
| 2024/25 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.30 |
Permanent exclusions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England, 2024/25.
Pupils
Against Sunderland and England, alternative provision.
Eligible for free school meals
2024/25Not publishedNot published: suppressed to protect individuals, usually because numbers are small
- Sunderland
- 70.8%
- England
- 63.2%
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | Not published | 75.5% | 57.8% |
| 2023/24 | Not published | 73.6% | 60.7% |
| 2024/25 | Not published | 70.8% | 63.2% |
Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals on census day in January. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
SEN support
2024/250.0%
- Sunderland
- 69.4%
- England
- 57.1%
57.1 percentage points lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.0% | 61.2% | 57.0% |
| 2023/24 | 0.0% | 65.6% | 58.1% |
| 2024/25 | 0.0% | 69.4% | 57.1% |
Pupils receiving special educational needs support without an education, health and care plan. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
Education, health and care plan
2024/250.0%
- Sunderland
- 11.1%
- England
- 26.3%
26.3 percentage points lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.0% | 9.2% | 25.5% |
| 2023/24 | 0.0% | 12.8% | 24.2% |
| 2024/25 | 0.0% | 11.1% | 26.3% |
Pupils with an education, health and care plan. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
First language other than English
2024/250.0%
- Sunderland
- 0.0%
- England
- 7.6%
7.6 percentage points lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8.0% |
| 2023/24 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 7.6% |
Pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Schools, pupils and their characteristics, 2024/25.
Teachers
Against Sunderland and England, alternative provision.
Pupils per qualified teacher
2025/265.4
- Sunderland
- 6.7
- England
- 7.3
1.9 lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 7.6 | 6.6 | 6.7 |
| 2018/19 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 6.8 |
| 2019/20 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 7.0 |
| 2020/21 | 5.6 | 7.2 | 6.8 |
| 2021/22 | 5.0 | 6.8 | 6.9 |
| 2022/23 | 6.0 | 6.8 | 7.0 |
| 2023/24 | 5.3 | 7.0 | 7.1 |
| 2024/25 | 6.3 | 6.9 | 7.3 |
| 2025/26 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 7.3 |
Full-time equivalent pupils for each full-time equivalent qualified teacher. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, School workforce in England, 2025/26.
Teacher sickness absence
2024/251.8 days
- Sunderland
- 5.6 days
- England
- 5.0 days
3.2 days lower than England.
Compared with all state-funded schools: DfE publishes this measure for all schools, not by phase.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 0.0 days | 5.0 days | 4.0 days |
| 2018/19 | 3.2 days | 5.4 days | 4.0 days |
| 2019/20 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| 2020/21 | 5.8 days | 4.8 days | 3.9 days |
| 2021/22 | 5.6 days | 6.5 days | 6.3 days |
| 2022/23 | 23.2 days | 5.9 days | 5.2 days |
| 2023/24 | 10.8 days | 6.1 days | 5.3 days |
| 2024/25 | 1.8 days | 5.6 days | 5.0 days |
Days lost to sickness absence in the school year, averaged across all teachers. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, School workforce in England, 2024/25.
Finance
Academies report their accounts as part of their trust, so DfE publishes no school-level balance for this school. The trust’s figures are in DfE’s Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool.
See this school in the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool
About the school
- Pupils on roll
- 0
- Capacity
- 80
- Type
- Free schools alternative provision
- Phase
- Alternative provision
- Age range
- 13 to 16
- Sixth form
- Does not have a sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE LAIDLAW SCHOOLS TRUST
- Opened
- 1 September 2016
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Constituency
- Sunderland Central
- Deprivation of the area (IDACI)
- Decile 5 of 10 (1 is the most deprived tenth of neighbourhoods)
Address: Vaux Brewery Way, Stadium Park, Sunderland, SR5 1SN
Website: beaconoflight.laidlawschoolstrust.co.uk
Telephone: 01915634789
Sources and corrections
Every figure on this page names its source and period. This release was built on 20 October 2026.
- Department for Education: Get Information about Schools: establishment data (GIAS establishment extract 2026-10-20)
- Ofsted: State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information (Latest inspections as at 2026-09-30; All inspections, 2018/19; All inspections, 2019/20; All inspections, 2020/21; All inspections, 2021/22; All inspections, 2022/23; All inspections, 2023/24; All inspections, 2024/25; All inspections, 2025/26)
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Pupil absence in schools in England (absence-3term-school, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England (exc-school, 2006/07 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-ap-school, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-geography, 2006/07 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; exc-ap-geography, 2013/14 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Key stage 2 attainment (ks2-school, 2022/23 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; ks2-geography, 2015/16 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Key stage 4 performance (ks4-school, 2023/24 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; ks4-geography, 2018/19 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id])
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: Schools, pupils and their characteristics (School census, January 2022 (performance tables, 2021 to 2022); School census, January 2023 (performance tables, 2022 to 2023); School census, January 2024 (performance tables, 2023 to 2024); School census, January 2025 (performance tables, 2024 to 2025))
- Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics: School workforce in England (ptr-school, 2010/11 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; ptr-geography, 2010/11 to 2025/26 [pinned data set id]; sickness-school, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id]; sickness-geography, 2009/10 to 2024/25 [pinned data set id])
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: English indices of deprivation 2025: Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (English indices of deprivation 2025, File 7 (2021 LSOAs))
Spotted something wrong? Report a correction with the school’s URN (142882). Fixes go out in the next weekly release.