Academy 360
Academy sponsor led · 854 pupils
66% stayed in education · Attainment 8 31.7
Academy special converter
Barbara Priestman Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 189of 178 places
- Free school meals
- 61.5%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 27
- Ofsted
- School remains Good, 27 March 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Barbara Priestman School (URN 108879, until 1 August 2012).
What the data says
Of the 26 pupils who finished Year 11 at Barbara Priestman Academy in 2023, 0% stayed on in Barbara Priestman Academy’s own sixth form (Sunderland average 21%), 12% went to a further education college and none started an apprenticeship.
GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 2.7 against 46.1 across England and 43.3 in Sunderland, with 4% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Almost nobody goes straight into an apprenticeship or a job: none took an apprenticeship and none went into work, against 3% and 3% across England.
Languages are a small part of the curriculum here: entries in German add up to 11% of the year group, and 0% of pupils entered the full EBacc set of subjects (England 41%).
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 Sunderland and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Barbara Priestman Academy | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 26 | 3,005 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 96% | 86% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 96% | 76% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 0% | 21% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | — | 13% |
| — further education college | 12% | 53% | 37% |
| — other education | 85% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 7% | 3% |
| Employment | 0% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 4% | 11% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 0% | 3% | 3% |
Where students went after sixth form
Destinations of students who finished 16–18 study in 2023, measured the following year.
No published destinations for sixth-form leavers yet.
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Barbara Priestman Academy | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 2.7 | 43.3 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 4% | 42% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 4% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 0% | 41% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 0.17 | 3.81 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 56% | 36% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 2.0 | 33.1 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 3.5 | 49.1 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 4% | 6% | 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 | 6 | 22% | 88% | 0% | 22% | 17% |
| English Language | 5 | 19% | 89% | — | 20% | — |
| German | 3 | 11% | 5% | — | 33% | — |
| Physics | 3 | 11% | 23% | — | 46% | — |
Other secondary schools in Sunderland
Biddick Academy
Academy converter · 1,002 pupils
67% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.5
Castle View Enterprise Academy
Academy sponsor led · 993 pupils
67% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.9
Christ's College
Free schools · 796 pupils
74% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.2
Hetton Academy
Academy converter · 681 pupils
70% stayed in education · Attainment 8 51.8
Kepier
Academy converter · 1,131 pupils
77% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.6
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.