Venerable Bede Church of England Academy
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Sunderland
Tunstall Bank, Sunderland, SR2 0SX
54
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Not judged
Graded 21/01/2025
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
87.3%
32.9% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
738
Capacity used
Has space82%
900 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
106 of 106 families who put it first got an offer
114
Places offered
191
Total applications
1.7
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 106 | 106 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 55 | 4 | ● 7% |
| 3rd preference | 30 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 191 | 110 | 58% |
1st preference success by year
Sunderland lets families list 3 preferences. 2 applications came from outside the council area (1 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Jordan Bedford
- Address
- Tunstall Bank, Sunderland, SR2 0SX
- Phone
- 01915239745
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Ward / constituency
- Ryhope · Sunderland Central
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 139184
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 34% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 1% | — | — |
| SEN support | 14% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: NORTHERN LIGHTS LEARNING TRUST
738 pupils · 900 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 25
21 January 2025
Full graded inspection
Not judged overall effectivenessPersonal development Requires improvement Quality of education Inadequate Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement - 21
05 November 2021
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 863 pupils
Attendance
87.3%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
12.7%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
32.9%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
8.7%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
7.5%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 37.6 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -1.04 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 22% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 43% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.40 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 44.1 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 38.8% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 60.7% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 44.4% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.9 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 178 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 176 | 12% | 44% | 65% | |
| English Language | 176 | 23% | 54% | 69% | |
| English Literature | 173 | 23% | 58% | 75% | |
| Religious Studies | 162 | 17% | 49% | 62% | |
| Combined Science | 111 | 0% | 19% | 51% | |
| Geography | 103 | 25% | 47% | 62% | |
| Spanish | 80 | 15% | 35% | 51% | |
| History | 76 | 22% | 50% | 61% | |
| Biology | 58 | 26% | 76% | 95% | |
| Physics | 58 | 36% | 86% | 100% | |
| Chemistry | 58 | 33% | 72% | 91% | |
| Design & Technology | 46 | 0% | 15% | 26% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Sunderland council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.