STATUTORY PROPOSAL: Proposal to close Monkseaton High School on 31 August 2026

Notice is given in accordance with section 15(1) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and regulation 12 of the School Organisation (Establishment and Discontinuance of Schools) Regulations 2013 that North Tyneside Council Quadrant East, Cobalt Business Park, The Silverlink North, North Tyneside, NE27 0BY is proposing to close Monkseaton High School (DfE 392/4034), Seatonville Road, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, NE25 9EQ on 31 August 2026. Monkseaton High School is a Foundation Trust school. A Foundation Trust School is a local authority maintained school which is supported by a charitable Trust, the North Tyneside Learning Trust.

Under section 15 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, the closure of Monkseaton High School is considered necessary on the basis that it is no longer viable. In addition, there are surplus places elsewhere in the local area, which can accommodate displaced pupils, and there is no predicted increase in demand for the school in the medium to long term.

Within four weeks from the date of publication of this proposal, any person may object to or make comments on the proposal on the Our North Tyneside Voice website https://haveyoursay.northtyneside.gov.uk, or by post to Education Review, North Tyneside Council, Quadrant East, Cobalt Business Park, The Silverlink North, North Tyneside, NE27 0BY. 

The deadline for receipt of responses to the proposal and the end of the representation period is 5pm on 13 December 2024. The Authority’s Cabinet will meet after the end of the representation period, on 19 December 2024, to take the final decision on whether to close Monkseaton High School.

If you require a paper copy of the proposal or require it in another language or format, please contact us at engagement@northtyneside.gov.uk or 0191 6432828.

Contact details 

This proposal is published by North Tyneside Council, Quadrant East, Cobalt Business Park, The Silverlink North, North Tyneside, NE27 0BY.

Implementation

It is proposed to close the school on 31 August 2026.

The implementation of the closure will be phased as follows: 

September 2025

• No pupils will be admitted to Year 9 or Year 12. 
• Current Year 9 pupils will be supported to transition to alternative Year 10 provision ahead of September 2025.  
• Current Year 10 and 12 pupils will remain at Monkseaton High School and move into Year 11 and Year 13, respectively.

Summer 2026:

• Year 11 pupils will complete their GCSE’s and leave the school
• Year 13 pupils will complete their A levels and leave the school
• Monkseaton High School would be closed on 31 August 2026

Reason for closure 

• Under section 15 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, the Authority believes the closure of Monkseaton High School is considered necessary on the basis that it is no longer viable. In addition, there are surplus places elsewhere in the local area, which can accommodate displaced pupils, and there is no predicted increase in demand for the school in the medium to long term.
• Monkseaton High School has a significant financial deficit, currently over £5m, which is projected to increase to over £7 million by 2026. This is not sustainable and is impacting the stability of the school and, despite the best efforts of school leadership and staff, it poses a risk to the quality of education that can be delivered to pupils. Financial rules state that schools cannot operate with sustained deficits, and forecasts from the school show this deficit is set to increase. 
• Declining pupil numbers and lower birth rates mean that the school is operating at just over 50% of its capacity. The school has capacity for 964 pupils. In 2009 the number of pupils on roll was 783 and in January 2024 it was 527. Whilst pupil numbers have recovered from a low of 431 in 2016, it is clear the school still has significant surplus spaces. The number of students on roll in the October 2024 census was 504. Housebuilding in the area is not likely to improve this at the level required for the school to become sustainable.
• While parental choice plays a significant role in this decline, with only one in five current pupils coming from the local community, there has also been changes to the local demographics and an overall decrease in pupils in the catchment area. 
• The financial position is made more challenging by higher-than-average building running costs, maintenance, and changes to government funding. 
• The Authority considers that it has explored every viable option available. This has been reinforced through discussions with the Department for Education, which have not identified any further options. 
• The Authority is now clear that without long term changes beyond its control, it is not possible to make the school viable.  The operational and financial challenges faced by the school mean there is a risk it will not be able to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum.
• During the period of pre-publication consultation, no viable alternatives or options were presented, though all were carefully considered. The proposals that came forward have either been previously explored and ruled out or did not provide sufficient evidence which would enable the Authority to make a new proposal that would satisfactorily resolve the pupil number trends and financial implications of keeping the school open.

Pupil numbers and admissions

Numbers of pupils on roll (October 2024 Census)

Displaced pupils 

It is proposed to close the school on 31 August 2026. The implementation of the closure will be phased as follows: 

September 2025

• No pupils will be admitted to Year 9 or Year 12. 
• Current Year 9 pupils will be supported to transition to alternative Year 10 provision ahead of September 2025. 
• Current Year 10 and 12 pupils will remain at Monkseaton High School and move into Year 11 and Year 13 respectively

Summer 2026

• Year 11 pupils will complete their GCSE’s and leave the school
• Year 13 pupils will complete their A levels and leave the school
• Monkseaton High School would be closed on 31 August 2026.

There is enough capacity for all displaced Year 9 pupils across our North Tyneside secondary schools (maintained and academy settings). The Council has a statutory role to ensure there is sufficient school places for pupils who are residents of North Tyneside and this responsibility is a key consideration. While schools have agreed Published Admission Numbers (PAN) for their admissions, the capacity for each school to take further pupils is at the discretion of their Governing Board and is linked to the physical capacity of the school.

We have engaged, and continue to engage, with school leaders within North Tyneside to work on a system that will increase parental choice for the current Year 9 pupils who will be displaced and for the current Year 8 pupils who are in Middle Schools. The majority of the schools named below have already agreed to provide an increased number of places while the remaining schools are finalising their decision with their Governing Boards.

Considering current and projected numbers from September 2025 all current Year 9 pupils in Monkseaton High School and all current Year 8 pupils in middle schools who are residents of North Tyneside can be accommodated in the following North Tyneside schools: 

• Burnside College
• Churchill Community College
• George Stephenson High School
• John Spence Community High School
• Longbenton High School
• Marden High School
• Norham High School
• North Gosforth Academy 
• St Thomas More Catholic High School
• Whitley Bay High School

The decision is proposed to be taken at Cabinet on 19 December 2024. If Cabinet approve the proposal to close Monkseaton High School, the number of available places at each school will be published as part of the decision and in advance of the opening of the extraordinary admissions arrangements which is scheduled to open on 2 January 2025.

The Authority has in place extraordinary admissions arrangements:

• For current Year 8 pupils in a middle school in the North-East Planning area, which will enable them to receive their Year 9 school place offer on the 3 March 2025 (national offer day).  Refer to appendix one for further details.
• For current Year 9 pupils on roll at Monkseaton High School, which will enable them to receive their Year 10 school place offer on 31 January 2025. Refer to appendix two for further details. 
• Information regarding the provision for displaced pupils who receive educational provision reserved for children with special education needs is set out below.

Impact on the community

During the pre-publication consultation a number of concerns were expressed over the potential impact on the wider community. The Authority recognises that a consultation of this nature will be a concern for local communities, however, the current educational and financial position is not sustainable. The Authority aims to have a system of education that brings about the highest possible standards of education for all children and doing nothing will not achieve this in the rapidly changing educational landscape.

The economic benefits that a school brings to a community should be seen as beneficial side effects to the main duty of a school which is to provide a quality education to its pupils. 

However, numbers on roll, budget deficits and academic standards must be the major considerations in any decision on the future of a school and, while a community may be impacted by a decision to close a school; this cannot be an overriding factor. 

A separate Community Impact Assessment and an Equality Impact Assessment are available on the Our North Tyneside Voice website. They will be kept under review and updated as needed during the process.

Post 16 provision 

Monkseaton High School currently has 59 students in Years 12 and 13, and 149 in Year 11. The North Tyneside Connexions team will support all students in Year 11 on their Post 16 choices, signposting local school Sixth Forms and FE Colleges. There are school Sixth Forms at Burnside College, Churchill Community College, George Stephenson High School, Kings Priory, Longbenton Community College, St Thomas More catholic High School and Whitley Bay High School. Local Further Education Colleges also provide A Level and Vocational courses. 

Special educational needs provision 

Monkseaton High School is a mainstream school which provides a national curriculum offer to children and young people with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs); they do not have an active Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) or Special Educational Need (SEN) Unit in place. The Authority is committed to supporting transitions arrangements for all pupils who will leave their current school at the end of the 2024-25 academic year. Pupils with SEND and EHCPs will continue to be supported in any new school setting. The Authority will take all practicable steps to ease the transition for all pupils, including vulnerable groups. It will work with the receiving schools to arrange transition days for pupils to meet their new teachers and to familiarise themselves with their new environments. 

The Authority has in place arrangements where North Tyneside Council:

• is undertaking an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) for those who are in Year 8, and for those who are in Year 9 through to Year 13 on roll at Monkseaton High School. Refer to appendix three for further details.
• maintains an Education Health and Care Plan for those who are in Year 8 attending a school in the NEPA, and for those who are in Year 9 through to Year 13 on roll at Monkseaton High School. Refer to appendix four for further details.

Travel

Currently, only 20% of pupils at Monkseaton High School live in the local catchment area and most pupils travel from other areas. From this information it is evident that the majority of pupils attending Monkseaton High School already face journeys to and from school each day.

It is likely that journey times, and therefore the impact on traffic congestion and the environment, could be reduced for some, as a large number of displaced pupils would have the opportunity to attend schools nearer to their home address. The Authority is committed to ensuring that parents and pupils travel to school in a sustainable way, are encouraged to walk or cycle to school where possible and not use personal transport for short journeys.

The Authority will provide travel assistance to children and young people in line with the Home to School Transport Policy and Post 16 Policy Statement. Should Cabinet approve an amended Home to School Transport Policy and Post 16 Policy Statement on 25 November 2024, pupils who remain at Monkseaton High School will continue to receive travel assistance until they leave. Pupils who commence a new school or provision in September 2025 will receive travel assistance in line with the amended Home to School Transport Policy and Post 16 Policy Statement, which if agreed will be implemented in September 2025.

Related proposals

This proposal is not related to any other proposals.

Procedure for making representations (objections and comments)

Within four weeks from the date of publication of this proposal, any person may object to or make comments on the proposal on the Our North Tyneside Voice website https://haveyoursay.northtyneside.gov.uk, or by post to Education Review, North Tyneside Council, Quadrant East, Cobalt Business Park, The Silverlink North, North Tyneside, NE27 0BY.