UK Schools
Venerable Bede Church of England Academy
Venerable Bede Church of England Academy is a mixed secondary academy in Sunderland, Sunderland City Council, teaching 738 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted graded quality of education as Inadequate at its most recent inspection in January 2025. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 44.1 (England 46.1). Term dates and holidays for 2025–2026 are listed below.
Ofsted inspection
The latest published Ofsted judgement for Venerable Bede Church of England Academy.
From September 2024 Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. These are the graded judgement areas from the latest inspection.
Scale: Outstanding Good Requires improvement Inadequate
Term dates & holidays 2025–2026
Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Venerable Bede Church of England Academy.
Key dates (2025–2026)
- School opens for Autumn Term Wednesday 3 September 2025 Term
- School closes for Autumn Half Term Thursday 23 October 2025 Holiday
- School reopens after Autumn Half Term Monday 3 November 2025 Holiday
- School closes for Christmas Holiday Friday 19 December 2025 Holiday
- School reopens for Spring Term Monday 5 January 2026 Term
- School closes for Spring Half Term Friday 20 February 2026 Holiday
- School reopens after Spring Half Term Monday 2 March 2026 Holiday
- School closes for Easter Holiday Thursday 2 April 2026 Holiday
- School reopens for Summer Term Monday 20 April 2026 Term
- School closes for May Day Holiday Friday 1 May 2026 Holiday
- School reopens after May Day Holiday Tuesday 5 May 2026 Holiday
- School closes for Summer Half Term Friday 22 May 2026 Holiday
- School reopens after Summer Half Term Monday 1 June 2026 Holiday
- School closes for Summer Holiday Friday 17 July 2026 Holiday
- Inset Day – Pupils not in school Monday 1 September 2025 Inset Day
- Inset Day – Pupils not in school Tuesday 2 September 2025 Inset Day
- Inset Day – Pupils not in school Friday 24 October 2025 Inset Day
- Inset Day – Pupils not in school Monday 20 July 2026 Inset Day
- Inset Day – Pupils not in school Tuesday 21 July 2026 Inset Day
Exam results & performance
The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Venerable Bede Church of England Academy with Sunderland City Council and England.
Key stage 4 (GCSE) 44.1 Attainment 8 score
Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.
This school Sunderland City Council England
Attendance 32.9% Persistently absent pupils
Absence across the whole school year.
This school Sunderland City Council England
What pupils do after GCSEs 91% In education, apprenticeship or work
Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.
This school Sunderland City Council England
About this data source & caveats
Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.
We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.
Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Venerable Bede Church of England Academy. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.
Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Location & catchment area
Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Venerable Bede Church of England Academy than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.