The Orme Academy, Newcastle

From the headteacher's welcome: "The Orme Academy (previously Wolstanton High School) - named after Revd. Edward Orme (d. 1705), at one time master of the borough school, who left various lands in trust, the revenue to be applied to educating and apprenticing the children of Newcastle."

In 2026, pupils at The Orme Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 42.7, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 43.7 in Staffordshire and 47 across England.

32% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 39% in Staffordshire and 47% in England.

That is down from 43.8 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.44: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 35.1, against 45.3 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 10.2 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 22 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Art and Design and Geography.

For September 2026 entry, 152 families put The Orme Academy as their first choice and 299 named it as one of their preferences, for 169 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 1 family who put it first was not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to The Orme Academy are St John Fisher Catholic College (0.9 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 41.7); Chesterton Community Sports College (1.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 42.8); Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent (1.8 miles, Good, Attainment 8 46.2); and Newcastle Academy (1.9 miles, Good, Attainment 8 31.9).

The Orme Academy's 2026 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.

The Orme Academy is one of 31 schools run by The Shaw Education Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 42.2 in 2024/25.

Of the 132 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 90% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 86% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 2% into work.

3.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 131 pupils (17.1%) received SEN support and 19 (2.5%) 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 a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

The Orme Academy has a resourced provision for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, speech, language and communication needs, autism, social, emotional and mental health needs, moderate learning difficulties and severe learning difficulties: 12 places, 12 pupils on roll.

The nearest railway station is Platform 2, about 1 mile away in a straight line.

4 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Wolstanton High School (adjacent), 200 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood The Orme Academy stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 204 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Staffordshire (86), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, The Orme Academy issued 179 suspensions, 23.3 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 3 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to The Orme Academy are St Margaret's CofE (VC) Junior School (0.3 miles), Hempstalls Primary School (0.3 miles), St Wulstan's Catholic Primary School (0.4 miles) and May Bank Infants' School (0.4 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.