Gilbert Ward Academy
- Special
- Free schools special
- Ages 11 to 16
URN 149842 · Northumberland · PROSPER LEARNING TRUST
Inspection
Ofsted management information, as at 30 September 2026.
Latest report card inspection
6 May 2026- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding standards
- Met
Full inspection (section 5)
Report cards, used from 10 November 2025, grade each area on a five-point scale and give no overall grade. Safeguarding is met or not met.
Read the reports on Ofsted’s website. Source: Ofsted, State-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information.
Attendance
Against Northumberland and England, special schools.
Overall absence
2024/2526.6%
- Northumberland
- 15.1%
- England
- 12.8%
13.8 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 2018/19 | Not published | 10.3% | 10.1% |
| 2020/21 | Not published | 18.3% | 15.2% |
| 2021/22 | Not published | 13.8% | 13.2% |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 15.3% | 13.0% |
| 2023/24 | 25.6% | 16.0% | 13.0% |
| 2024/25 | 26.6% | 15.1% | 12.8% |
Sessions missed for any reason, as a share of all possible sessions in the school year. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25.
Persistent absence
2024/2572.3%
- Northumberland
- 37.1%
- England
- 35.3%
37.0 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 26.2% | 29.6% |
| 2018/19 | Not published | 28.1% | 28.8% |
| 2020/21 | Not published | 63.8% | 48.9% |
| 2021/22 | Not published | 44.3% | 40.4% |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 40.0% | 38.3% |
| 2023/24 | 72.7% | 41.0% | 37.2% |
| 2024/25 | 72.3% | 37.1% | 35.3% |
Pupils who missed 10% or more of their possible sessions, as a share of pupils. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25.
Severe absence
2024/2521.5%
- Northumberland
- 11.6%
- England
- 6.9%
14.6 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 4.9% | 4.4% |
| 2018/19 | Not published | 6.4% | 4.6% |
| 2020/21 | Not published | 6.5% | 5.6% |
| 2021/22 | Not published | 5.7% | 5.8% |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 9.4% | 6.2% |
| 2023/24 | 21.2% | 10.6% | 6.7% |
| 2024/25 | 21.5% | 11.6% | 6.9% |
Pupils who missed 50% or more of their possible sessions, as a share of pupils. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25.
Suspensions and permanent exclusions
Against Northumberland and England, special schools.
Suspensions per 100 pupils
2024/25272.73
- Northumberland
- 28.48
- England
- 12.32
260.41 higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 7.11 | 12.34 |
| 2018/19 | Not published | 6.28 | 11.32 |
| 2019/20 | Not published | 2.64 | 7.76 |
| 2020/21 | Not published | 3.29 | 7.29 |
| 2021/22 | Not published | 4.51 | 9.60 |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 48.17 | 10.99 |
| 2023/24 | 158.62 | 46.52 | 12.62 |
| 2024/25 | 272.73 | 28.48 | 12.32 |
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
2024/250.00
- Northumberland
- 0.00
- England
- 0.08
0.08 lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 0.63 | 0.07 |
| 2018/19 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.06 |
| 2019/20 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.04 |
| 2020/21 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.03 |
| 2021/22 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.05 |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 0.00 | 0.08 |
| 2023/24 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.08 |
| 2024/25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.08 |
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.
Key stage 4 results
Against Northumberland and England, secondary schools.
Attainment 8
2025/26 (provisional)1.0
Not compared with mainstream schools.
The average of pupils' points across eight GCSE-level qualifications, with English and maths counted twice. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Key stage 4 performance, 2025/26.
English and maths: grade 4 or above
2025/26 (provisional)0%
Not compared with mainstream schools.
Pupils at the end of key stage 4 with grade 4 or above in both English and maths. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Key stage 4 performance, 2025/26.
English and maths: grade 5 or above
2025/26 (provisional)0%
Not compared with mainstream schools.
Pupils at the end of key stage 4 with grade 5 or above in both English and maths. Source: Department for Education, Explore Education Statistics, Key stage 4 performance, 2025/26.
Pupils
Against Northumberland and England, special schools.
Eligible for free school meals
2024/2563.6%
- Northumberland
- 53.8%
- England
- 48.8%
14.8 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | Not published | 48.1% | 44.4% |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 49.9% | 45.6% |
| 2023/24 | 58.6% | 51.4% | 47.1% |
| 2024/25 | 63.6% | 53.8% | 48.8% |
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%
- Northumberland
- 0.6%
- England
- 0.5%
0.5 percentage points lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | Not published | 0.1% | 0.9% |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.4% | 0.2% | 0.7% |
| 2024/25 | 0.0% | 0.6% | 0.5% |
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
2024/25100.0%
- Northumberland
- 99.4%
- England
- 99.5%
0.5 percentage points higher than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | Not published | 99.9% | 99.1% |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 99.8% | 99.2% |
| 2023/24 | 96.6% | 99.8% | 99.3% |
| 2024/25 | 100.0% | 99.4% | 99.5% |
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%
- Northumberland
- 1.4%
- England
- 14.4%
14.4 percentage points lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | Not published | 1.3% | 14.5% |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 1.3% | 14.4% |
| 2023/24 | 0.0% | 1.2% | 14.4% |
| 2024/25 | 0.0% | 1.4% | 14.4% |
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 Northumberland and England, special schools.
Pupils per qualified teacher
2025/267.2
- Northumberland
- 7.3
- England
- 7.3
0.1 lower than England.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | This school | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 7.5 | 6.7 |
| 2018/19 | Not published | 7.5 | 6.8 |
| 2019/20 | Not published | 7.3 | 7.0 |
| 2020/21 | Not published | 7.2 | 6.8 |
| 2021/22 | Not published | 8.0 | 6.9 |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 8.3 | 7.0 |
| 2023/24 | 4.8 | 7.6 | 7.1 |
| 2024/25 | 5.6 | 7.1 | 7.3 |
| 2025/26 | 7.2 | 7.3 | 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
2024/253.8 days
- Northumberland
- 5.8 days
- England
- 5.0 days
1.2 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 | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Not published | 5.9 days | 4.0 days |
| 2018/19 | Not published | 5.2 days | 4.0 days |
| 2019/20 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| 2020/21 | Not published | 4.4 days | 3.9 days |
| 2021/22 | Not published | 5.6 days | 6.3 days |
| 2022/23 | Not published | 7.3 days | 5.2 days |
| 2023/24 | 0.8 days | 6.3 days | 5.3 days |
| 2024/25 | 3.8 days | 5.8 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
- 83
- Capacity
- 80
- Type
- Free schools special
- Phase
- Special
- Age range
- 11 to 16
- Sixth form
- Does not have a sixth form
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- PROSPER LEARNING TRUST
- Opened
- 1 September 2023
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Constituency
- Blyth and Ashington
- Deprivation of the area (IDACI)
- Decile 1 of 10 (1 is the most deprived tenth of neighbourhoods)
Address: Princess Louise Road, Blyth, Northumberland, NE24 2TS
Website: www.gilbertwardacademy.co.uk/
Telephone: 01916053899
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))
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