Academy 360
Academy sponsor led · 854 pupils
66% stayed in education · Attainment 8 31.7
Academy converter
Venerable Bede Church of England Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 738of 900 places
- Free school meals
- 34.3%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 178
- Ofsted
- School remains Good, 21 January 2025Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Venerable Bede Church of England (Aided) Secondary School (URN 133391, until 1 January 2013).
What the data says
Venerable Bede Church of England Academy has no sixth form. Of the 175 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 64% to a further education college and 14% started an apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships are a real route from here: 14% of leavers started one, roughly three times the England figure of 3%.
Religious Studies is unusually popular at GCSE: 91% of the year group took it, against 31% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 44.1 against 46.1 across England and 43.3 in Sunderland, with 39% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
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 | This school | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 175 | 3,005 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 91% | 86% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 77% | 76% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 13% | 21% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | — | 13% |
| — further education college | 64% | 53% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 14% | 7% | 3% |
| Employment | 1% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 6% | 11% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | This school | Sunderland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 44.1 | 43.3 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 39% | 42% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 61% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 44% | 41% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.90 | 3.81 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 29% | 36% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 32.1 | 33.1 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 49.0 | 49.1 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 2% | 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 | 176 | 99% | 88% | 12% | 22% | 65% |
| English Language | 176 | 99% | 89% | 23% | 20% | 69% |
| English Literature | 173 | 97% | 86% | 23% | 21% | 75% |
| Religious Studies | 162 | 91% | 31% | 17% | 32% | 62% |
| Combined Science | 111 | 62% | 65% | 0% | 9% | 51% |
| Geography | 103 | 58% | 41% | 25% | 25% | 62% |
| Spanish | 80 | 45% | 19% | 15% | 27% | 51% |
| History | 76 | 43% | 41% | 22% | 26% | 61% |
| Physics | 58 | 33% | 23% | 36% | 46% | 100% |
| Chemistry | 58 | 33% | 23% | 33% | 47% | 91% |
| Biology | 58 | 33% | 23% | 26% | 45% | 95% |
| Design and Technology | 46 | 26% | 11% | 0% | 23% | 26% |
| Media Studies | 33 | 19% | 4% | 18% | 20% | 73% |
| Textiles | 33 | 19% | 2% | 18% | 27% | 76% |
| Physical Education | 20 | 11% | 11% | 15% | 24% | 80% |
| Art and Design | 12 | 7% | 7% | 17% | 24% | 50% |
| Music | 11 | 6% | 5% | 36% | 33% | 64% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 8 | 4% | 8% | 0% | 21% | 13% |
| Citizenship Studies | 5 | 3% | 3% | — | 19% | — |
| Economics | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 34% | — |
| Business Studies | 1 | 1% | 18% | — | 20% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Business Management | 82 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 43 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 40 | — | — |
| Tourism | 27 | — | — |
| Sports / Movement Science | 16 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 1 | — | — |
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.