From Middlesbrough to Sunderland, Newcastle to Northumberland, many of the North East’s recent school leavers excelled in their A Levels last year - and their schools have got the stats to prove it.
The Government finally released the latest performance figures for state-funded sixth form colleges and secondary schools on Thursday (February 13), meaning England’s top A Level performers have now been named. We’ve used this new data to compare how those across the region’s local authority areas did, to create a league table of the region’s stand-out sixth forms in the 2023/24 school year.
They have been ranked by their A Level performance point scores, a unique measurement derived from students’ A Level results that gives them a score out of 60. You’ll also see the overall ‘average grades’ each school’s students achieved across their A Level entries - and we’ve only included those with at least a B- average.
We also checked that each school included had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before this measure was recently dropped, or, if they’ve been inspected more recently, had at least ‘good’ grades across the board. This means that the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management and student safeguarding were all found to meet or exceed government standards last time the school was inspected.
Here were the 19 state sixth forms from across the North East that made the grade:
1. Durham Johnston Comprehensive School
The North East’s top state sixth form for a second year running, this is a secondary school and sixth form in Durham. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had an A Level point score of 41.47 - giving it an average grade of B. | Google
2. Durham Sixth Form Centre
This is a large sixth-form college in Durham, which also serves much of the surrounding area. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had an A Level point score of 40.68 - giving it an average grade of B. | Google
3. Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College, in Gateshead, is one of the last city technology colleges in England. Although not strictly a state school, it is free for students to attend - and funded by central government. In a recent inspection, it was rated ‘outstanding’ in all categories by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had an A Level point score of 39.27 - giving it an average grade of B. | Google
4. St Mary's Catholic School
St Mary’s is a mixed Catholic secondary school and sixth form in Newcastle. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 academic year, it had an A Level point score of 39.21 - giving it an average grade of B. | Google