List of middle schools in England


Middle schools in England are defined in English and Welsh law as schools in which the age range of pupils starts younger than 10 years and six months and finishes older than 12 years of age.
The number of middle schools, including combined schools for children aged between 5 and 12, reached a peak of over 1400 by 1983.
In 2019 there were 107 middle schools remaining in England, operating in just 14 local authority areas.

History

Middle schools were permitted by the Education Act 1964, which made additional arrangements to allow for schools which crossed the traditional primary-secondary threshold at age 11. Notably, these changes did not define a new type of school, but rather permitted a variation on existing schemes, while providing for regulations which allowed the Secretary of State to determine whether such schools should be treated as primary or secondary.
This had not been provided for in the Education Act 1944.
The move, pushed forward by Alec Clegg, then Chief Education Officer of the West Riding of Yorkshire County Council, was initially part of a process to introduce comprehensive schools in secondary education. Clegg proposed a model of middle schools for students aged 9 to 13, crossing the traditional divide at age 11 as early as 1960, with the scheme fully implemented in September 1969. Earlier moves by the local authority in Leicestershire had seen the introduction of two-tier secondary schools for students aged 11 to 14, and 14 to 18 as early as the late 1950s.
The Education Act 1964 was followed in July 1965 by Circular 10/65 from the then Labour government requesting that local education authorities put forward plans to introduce comprehensive schools in their areas. However, the circular offered only limited support for a change to a three-tier model of middle schools, as the minister had already requested a review of the age of transfer to secondary schools as part of the Plowden enquiry into Children and their primary schools. The Plowden report published in 1967 encouraged the development of middle schools for students aged 8 to 12, developing from existing junior schools.
The law required that all schools were classified as either primary or secondary depending on the age range of students. By the 1970s, over 100 middle deemed secondary schools were in operation with around 30 deemed primary schools. The number of middle schools, including combined schools for children aged between 5 and 12, rose continuously over the next decade, reaching a peak of over 1400 such schools by 1983, with the primary model rapidly overtaking the secondary following the publication of the Plowden report. However, from that time onwards, the number of middle schools fell each year.
The introduction of the National Curriculum with set Key Stages aligned with the old primary/secondary model further affected the numbers of schools, with a quarter of middle schools closing in the five years after its introduction. Issues of falling rolls, and queries raised about the academic progress of students in three-tier systems led to further closures.

Statistics

In 2019 there were 107 middle schools remaining in England, operating in 14 local authority areas, ranging from the 117-pupil Glendale Middle School in Northumberland, to the 1000-pupil Biggleswade Academy in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.
In the table below, the URN refers to the unique reference number for each school, linking to its page on the Ofsted website. Also from the table below, it can be seen that middle deemed primary schools have now been almost completely abolished across England.

Middle schools

Bedford Borough

Schools in the unitary authority, operated by Bedfordshire County Council until April 2009. Following consultation in the summer of 2009 the authority intended to re-introduce two-tier provision from 2013, closing all middle schools by 2015. However, on 7 July 2010, it was announced that the change from 3-tier to 2-tier "would be scrapped"; the reason given being cuts in government funding to schools made by the Coalition Government. One Middle School closed in 2011 and two more closed in 2014.
In July 2015, the borough council announced its intention to support schools in the introduction of a borough-wide move to two-tier provision. As a result, all but one middle school reorganised as primary or secondary by 2019.
NameLocationAge
Range		Deemed
status		Number
on Roll		URNWebsite
Marston Vale Middle SchoolStewartby9–13Secondary464

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Poole Borough Council closed all of its middle-deemed-primary schools in August 2013. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council became the successor Local Education Authority in 2019.
NameLocationAge
Range		Deemed
status		Number
on Roll		URNWebsite
Broadstone Middle SchoolBroadstone9–13Secondary479

Central Bedfordshire

Schools in the unitary authority, operated by Bedfordshire County Council until April 2009. Some locality groups, such as schools in Dunstable, have undergone local re-organisations to remove middle schools. The local authority supports the principle of moving to primary and secondary provision.
NameLocationAge
Range		Deemed
status		Number
on Roll		URNWebsite
Alameda Middle SchoolAmpthill9–13Secondary715
Arnold AcademyBarton-le-Clay9–13Secondary658
Brooklands Middle SchoolLeighton Buzzard9–13Secondary518
Etonbury AcademyArlesey9–16Secondary1071
Fulbrook SchoolWoburn Sands9–16Secondary425
Gilbert Inglefield AcademyLeighton Buzzard9–13Secondary424
Holywell CE Middle SchoolCranfield9–13Secondary658
Leighton Middle SchoolLeighton Buzzard9–13Secondary556
Linslade SchoolLinslade9–13Secondary633
Parkfields Middle SchoolToddington9–13Secondary457
Pix Brook AcademyArlesey9–16Secondary720
Priory AcademyDunstable9–16Secondary699
Robert Bloomfield AcademyShefford9–13Secondary946
Woodland Middle School AcademyFlitwick9–13Secondary621

Dorset

Hertfordshire

Kirklees

NameLocationAge
Range		Deemed
status		Number
on Roll		URNWebsite
Kirkburton Middle SchoolKirkburton10–13Secondary509
Scissett Middle SchoolScissett10–13Secondary599

Newcastle upon Tyne

A new school is proposed to open at Great Park, Gosforth in 2020, which will be a middle school with age range 9-16.
NameLocationAge
Range		Deemed
status		Number
on Roll		URNWebsite
Gosforth Central Middle SchoolGosforth9–13Secondary514
Gosforth East Middle SchoolGosforth9–13Secondary512
Gosforth Junior High AcademyGosforth9–13Secondary700

North Tyneside

NameLocationAge
Range		Deemed
status		Number
on Roll		URNWebsite
Marden Bridge Middle SchoolWhitley Bay9–13Secondary549
Monkseaton Middle SchoolMonkseaton9–13Secondary294
Valley Gardens Middle SchoolMonkseaton9–13Secondary762
Wellfield Middle SchoolSouth Wellfield9–13Secondary323

Northumberland

Northumberland County Council began closing middle schools across the authority in 2006. This was discontinued as a universal policy following funding difficulties, but middle schools have continued to close, merge into all-through academies, or change to primaries, with 27 Northumberland middle schools having ceased to be middle schools since 2006 and four more closures approved: James Calvert Spence College - will cease to be a middle school from September 2025 becoming an 11-18 school while Glendale Middle School, Berwick Middle School and Tweedmouth Middle School will all close in 2026.
NameLocationAge
Range		Deemed
status		Number
on Roll		URNWebsite
Bellingham Middle SchoolBellingham9–13Secondary95
Berwick Middle SchoolBerwick-upon-Tweed9–13Secondary306
Chantry Middle SchoolMorpeth9–13Secondary546
Corbridge Middle SchoolCorbridge9–13Secondary349
Dr Thomlinson CE Middle SchoolRothbury9–13Secondary225
Glendale Middle SchoolWooler9–13Secondary115
Hexham Middle SchoolHexham9–13Secondary455
Highfield Middle SchoolPrudhoe9–13Secondary419
Newminster Middle SchoolMorpeth9–13Secondary526
Ovingham Middle SchoolOvingham9–13Secondary349
St Joseph's RC Middle SchoolHexham9–13Secondary336
Seaton Sluice Middle SchoolSeaton Sluice9–13Secondary326
Tweedmouth Middle SchoolBerwick-upon-Tweed9–13Secondary304
Whytrig Middle SchoolSeaton Delaval9–13Secondary231