Bellingham Middle School and Sports College, Hexham
Bellingham Middle School and Sports College is a secondary school for pupils aged 9 to 13 in Hexham. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in October 2019. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in April 2025 did not change this grade. Its 2025 Key Stage 2 results were the 6th-highest of the 6 schools in Hexham with published results, and 14,167th of 14,452 across England. It was 21% full in 2025.
- SATs results
- Below England average
- Ofsted
- Good (2019)
- Capacity
- 21% full
- Attendance
- Below England average
Year 7 applications for September 2027 close in 4 days
Deadline Saturday 31 October 2026. Apply to Northumberland (the council where you live). Offers on 1 March.
Data last updated 27 Oct 2026
Bellingham Middle School and Sports College in detail
Bellingham Middle School and Sports College in its own words
In its own words: "Bellingham Middle School is a middle school for children aged 9 to 13 years. Our school is situated on the edge of the village of Bellingham, and welcomes children from across the North Tyne and Redesdale area into our specialist facilities and nurturing environment."
From the headteacher's welcome: "I am delighted to welcome you to Bellingham Middle School as the Executive Headteacher for the Bellingham Partnership of Schools, an important part of this close-knit community in rural Northumberland. Our school is built on strong foundations and shared values: kindness, courage, respect and excellence."
The school runs after-school care until 5:00pm.
Vision and values (school website)Headteacher's welcome (school website)Wraparound care (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2025, 36% of Year 6 pupils at Bellingham Middle School and Sports College reached the expected standard in reading and 55% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 74% and 72% in Northumberland and 77% and 75% across England.
Results fell from 67% in reading and 67% in maths in 2024.
With small year groups, a few pupils can move these figures by several points.
Getting a place at Bellingham Middle School and Sports College
Across Northumberland, 96% of families were offered their first-choice secondary school for 2026 entry, and 98% were offered one of the schools they named.
In 2026, families in Northumberland lodged 73 appeals against secondary school offers; 54 reached a hearing and 21 succeeded (38.9% of those heard).
What parents say
13 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Bellingham Middle School and Sports College (as of September 2025): 62% would recommend the school, 77% say their child is happy there and 50% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.
The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (92%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (50%).
Who goes there
0% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
In 2026, 9 pupils (19.6%) received SEN support and 5 (10.9%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is autism.
Staffing
Bellingham Middle School and Sports College had 8 teachers in 2026, one for every 6 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical secondary school, at about one for every 17.
Getting there
There is no railway, tram or Underground station within about three miles of Bellingham Middle School and Sports College.
1 bus stop is within a five-minute walk; the closest is Heritage Centre (adjacent), 300 metres away.
The area around the school
In August 2026, police recorded 2 crimes within a mile of the school, most often other theft and violence and sexual offences. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Northumberland (44).
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Bellingham Middle School and Sports College issued 10 suspensions, 19.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; Ofsted Parent View; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; DfE school workforce census; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from October 2019, 7 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Quality of Education
Behaviour & Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership & Management
Latest (ungraded) inspection: Some aspects are not as strong as at the last graded inspection.
Ofsted Insights
From Ofsted's April 2025 inspection report.
What This School Does Well
Bellingham Middle School creates a warm, inclusive environment where your child will feel safe and supported. The school excels at helping readers who need extra help catch up quickly, and it offers strong pastoral care with staff who genuinely care about pupils' wellbeing. Your child will benefit from a well-thought-out personal development programme that teaches important life skills around health, safety and respect for others.
Key Strengths
- Strong reading support with early identification of needs and effective interventions - pupils catching up quickly
- Excellent safeguarding and pastoral care - pupils feel safe and staff build positive relationships effectively
- Well-designed personal development programme covering health, safety, responsibility, equality and diversity
- Calm and orderly school environment with good pupil behaviour and conduct
- Good support for pupils with SEND, enabling them to learn alongside peers
Areas for Improvement
- Pupils not securing depth of knowledge across the curriculum due to mismatched learning activities
- Teachers not checking understanding consistently, so gaps and misconceptions persist unaddressed
- Staff expectations are sometimes too low, affecting how well pupils listen and learn
- Some curriculum activities do not build sequentially on pupils' existing knowledge
- When expectations are lower, pupils don't listen well which impacts their learning
Safeguarding
Safeguarding arrangements are effective with strong safeguarding culture and staff helping pupils confidently address concerns.
Extracurricular Activities
Sewing, choir, various sports, gardening club, school council, curriculum-linked trips, assemblies
Bellingham Middle School is a friendly and welcoming school where pupils are polite and treat each other with kindness and respect. However, the school has experienced recent staffing changes and leadership instability, resulting in a decline in standards since the previous inspection, though new leadership is beginning to address these issues.
At a Glance
28.3%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
No
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
What Parents Think
13 responsesSource: Ofsted Parent View, responses as at September 2025 - % who strongly agree or agree
Exclusions & Suspensions
0
Permanent exclusions
0.00%
Exclusion rate
10
Suspensions
19.61%
Suspension rate
3 pupils received one or more suspensions out of 51 pupils
2024/25 academic year
Social & online
Keep up with Bellingham Middle School and Sports College
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Bellingham Middle School and Sports College from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Bellingham Middle School and Sports College is in Northumberland; for families living there:
Apply to Northumberland for free school transport. Its policy is on the council's website.
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 3
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 2
- Children hurt
- 0
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 3 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 2 serious and 1 slight.
No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt.
1 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Northumberland is 3 (the median across 175 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
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What the report includes for Bellingham Middle School and Sports College:
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- How many families in Northumberland got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
21%
Available places
50 pupils
240 places
190 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Hexham
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Hexham
Across Northumberland council
Places available
2,104
Applications
1,819
Got 1st preference
96.0%
Got preferred school
97.7%
All secondary applications across Northumberland council (2026/27), not just this school.
Inspection History(9)
Ungraded inspection: Some aspects are not as strong as at the last graded inspection.
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
9
SEN Support
5
EHC Plans
30.4%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
46
Total Pupils
24
Boys
22
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
8
Teachers
5.8:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£50,859
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£10,076
Per pupil
£593k
Total funding
£21k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
10.2%
Overall absence
22.4%
Persistent absence
58
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Bellingham Middle School and Sports College
Questions parents ask about Bellingham Middle School and Sports College
What are SATs results like at Bellingham Middle School and Sports College?
Of the pupils at Bellingham Middle School and Sports College who took the 2025 Key Stage 2 assessments, 36% reached the expected standard in reading and 55% did so in maths.
What is Bellingham Middle School and Sports College's Ofsted rating?
Bellingham Middle School and Sports College's most recent Ofsted inspection, in April 2025, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in October 2019, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for Bellingham Middle School and Sports College?
No fixed boundary. When Bellingham Middle School and Sports College is oversubscribed, Northumberland allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Bellingham Middle School and Sports College?
Bellingham Middle School and Sports College was not full in 2025: it ran at 21% of its 240 places.
How big are the classes at Bellingham Middle School and Sports College?
Classes at Bellingham Middle School and Sports College average 10.7 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Bellingham Middle School and Sports College?
Bellingham Middle School and Sports College has around 46 pupils on roll. 28% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Bellingham Middle School and Sports College?
10.2% of sessions were missed at Bellingham Middle School and Sports College in 2024/25. 22.4% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Bellingham Middle School and Sports College?
Apply through Northumberland's coordinated admissions process, naming Bellingham Middle School and Sports College on your application. Applications for Year 7 places starting in September 2027 close on Saturday 31 October 2026, and offers are made on Monday 1 March 2027.
How many road collisions happen near Bellingham Middle School and Sports College?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 3 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 2 serious and 1 slight. No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt. 1 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Northumberland is 3 (the median across 175 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Bellingham Middle School and Sports College?
Bellingham Middle School and Sports College is at Redesmouth Road, Bellingham, Hexham, Northumberland, NE48 2EN.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)