Two years ago, I stood in a school hall in Sunderland on GCSE results day and watched the pride and surprise in the faces of teenagers as the envelopes were opened.Even after years of covering results days, I was emotional to see a set of outstanding results in a school facing so many challenges. Almost half of the school's pupils receive free school meals, meaning their parents are on low incomes.
In fact, the results in the ex-mining town of Hetton-le-Hole were as strong as the most affluent parts of southern England.This summer, Hetton Academy hit another milestone, with 80% of its pupils getting a pass of at least a grade 4 in maths and English. A grade 4 is roughly equivalent to a 'C' under the old system, and is seen as a passport to jobs and further education.Another striking detail about Hetton is that almost all of its pupils are from a white, working-class background, a group that's been in the spotlight for some time.
This week saw the launch of the second phase of an independent inquiry, led by former Cabinet minister Baroness Morris, into why children from those communities lag behind their peers at school. Education Secretary Lucy Powell said: "Right now, too many white, working-class children are falling behind at every stage of their education."But Hetton Academy seems to have defied the odds.
The school's principal, Vicky Pinkney, refuses to accept low incomes should mean low results. "I don't think we should be accepting less just because of the community you work in," she says. Hetton AcademyImage caption, Hetton's principal, Vicky Pinkney, says low incomes shouldn't mean poor resultsThe stellar results have won Hetton a place among an elite group of schools: mainstream secondaries that don't select pupils academically, and where 80% of pupils get that all-important grade 4 in maths and English.In fact, there were only 339 non-selective schools in England that hit an average 80% pass rate in maths and English for the three years to 2025, out of around 3,000 that published the relevant data.
High achieving schools have been the focus of some political attention recently, with MPs in several parties arguing that we should study them closely.What can they tell us about how to raise standards? And could other schools facing the same challenges as Hetton achieve equally impressive results?'Hard to move the dial'From a quick glance of those 339 high-achieving schools, it becomes clear that some of their success comes from things that are difficult to shift.In particular, the economic profile of the pupils clearly matters.
Schools that hit the average 80% pass rate have fewer children from the lowest-income families than average, and are less likely to be in deprived areas. They also have fewer children with special educational needs.Analysts say we shouldn't be surprised by the huge role played by family finances in determining a school's outcome.Prof John Jerrim, an academic at University College London who researches education systems in different countries, says that England's system is failing poorer pupils.Since 2010, even while an overhaul of GCSEs has been widely seen as raising standards, the likelihood of the children from the poorest families passing these key exams has barely changed, he says."It's really hard to move the dial," says Prof Jerrim.Seamus Murphy, CEO of Turner Schools, which runs schools in financially deprived areas, thinks the push for higher academic standards under Michael Gove from 2010 instilled "vision and challenge" into the system.
But it doesn't work for all pupils, he says.Especially in places where families are struggling with the cost of living, he says, an 18-year-old earning the minimum wage was "a big deal", and it might be tempting for some parents to push their children towards work rather than education.The high-performing schools on our list also have a lower proportion of pupils from a White British background than other schools. Earlier this year, Baroness Morris's inquiry, external found that many white, working-class families have simply lost faith in the school system and increasingly believe it does not guarantee future success.Morning quizzes and fish and chips eveningsSo it's clear that a school's fortunes are shaped in part by factors outside its control.But there's a complication.
When you zoom in on particular schools, some of them do seem to be able to defy gravity, achieving high results despite seemingly being on the 'wrong' side of those demographic factors.So back to that school in Sunderland. It stands out as something of an exception: it has a mostly white, working-class population, and lots of pupils from poor families.
In fact, if you just look at the very highest grades, the region in which Hetton sits came bottom of the English league table this year. Just 3% of GCSEs in the North East were given the top mark (a grade 9) this summer, versus 8% in London, according to exam watchdog Ofqual. (On other measures of GCSE performance, the North East ranked more favourably.)So, what is the school doing right?After opening in the 1960s under the name Hetton School, it struggled for years with low performance.
Hetton-le-Hole town was hit hard by the closure of the Eppleton mine in the 1980s. It became common for families to send their children elsewhere in search of a good education.
An Ofsted report in 2021 ranked the school as "requires improvement". That was the last report before it converted into an academy.But by 2024, Ofsted said it was "rapidly improving".
This year's 80% pass rate for maths and English GCSEs ranks the school high within the Sunderland local authority, and well above the average for England, where 57% passed maths and 60% passed English.It's now the "school of choice" for local families, says the principal, Pinkney.The school also says it aims to have a warm, welcoming ethos.For Year 11 pupils, there is a separate entrance path which is lined each morning by teachers who stop a few and quiz them about their subject, problem solving on the spot with a whiteboard.While it's done in a good-humoured way, the decision on who to stop for this brief intervention is discussed at regular review meetings.There is more structured support for everyone in the form of an hour of extra study four days a week after school. If maths is where you are stuck, you might do two of these hours on that subject.Over the run-up to exams, the school holds 'Revision Sundays', when the Year 11 pupils can come in for a top-up session and eat a roast lunch together.It's all designed to foster a feeling of inclusion in the classroom, which in turn can boost exam grades, the school thinks.
And it seems to be working. When reviewing the school in 2024, Ofsted praised the "positive relationships" enjoyed between pupils and staff.
Owen Humphreys/PA WireImage caption, Pupils who feel they "belong" at school tend to perform better in their GCSEs, a government-commissioned study has foundAnd a government-commissioned study, published this year by the University of Cambridge, found that pupils who say they "belong" in school see "significantly higher attainment" in their GCSEs.Around this time of year at Hetton, parents of Year 11 pupils, who will sit exams next summer, receive an invitation to a 'Fish and Tips' evening at the school. They'll get advice on what they can do as parents to support learning and a bag full of revision resources.
Booklets and stationery are tailored to each pupil.Afterwards Pinkney and the other staff sit down with them for fish and chips in the canteen, paid for by the school. The parents see her as "just another Mam", she says, who wants their children to do their best.
She says some of the parents may have had a poor experience of school, or simply been able to get into work without many qualifications themselves.It's a community that mostly "stays in the area", Pinkney says, and it's the school's task to "open their horizons".High grades vs happiness?But still, challenges remain. It certainly won't be easy for every school in a white, working-class area to emulate Hetton's success.Prof Lindsey Macmillan, an expert in how education shapes life chances, was involved in the recent inquiry into white working-class children.The pupils start school already behind, she says, and that gap only widens through secondary school due to a growing disengagement with education.The inquiry found "telling" evidence that the connection with school "falls off a cliff" for white working-class families at the point of moving to secondary school, leading to poor attendance.Parents told the inquiry things like, "I didn't need qualifications" to get into work - the same message as Pinkney hears from some parents in Hetton-le-Hole. (In reality, Macmillan says, formal qualifications are now more important for getting a job than they were in previous decades, when there were more routes into well-paid industrial work, and more on-the-job training.)That's a point supported by Prof Jerrim, who thinks schools should get families to buy-in on education by clearly explaining to them how qualifications can help their children find work.The inquiry also reported a sense of white working-class parents not wanting their children to leave their area, with its strong sense of connection.
England's education system was described as being out-of-step with the values of white, working-class communities. Parents in those areas are ambitious for their children, the inquiry found, but often prioritise happiness and life-readiness alongside or above high grades.
The likelihood of the children from the poorest families passing GCSEs has barely changed in many years, says John Jerrim, an education professor at University College LondonBut Macmillan, an education professor at University College London, also says that high grades shouldn't be seen as the only route into successful adult life. To suggest that sounds "demeaning" to some parents who didn't achieve high grades themselves, she thinks."Why have we created a structure where getting those maths and English GCSEs is so important to your life chances?" she says.She wants the government to think about more entry-level apprenticeships and other on-the-job learning, so children with lower academic grades can still thrive.Back in Sunderland, the 700 or so pupils at Hetton Academy have just arrived back in school after their half-term.Does the principal think other places could replicate its success?Absolutely, Pinkney says.
And for her, it's personal: she points out that she too was raised by a single mother with little money, and still thrived academically."I feel really strongly about that. My school helped me to be able to achieve."Top image credit: Getty.More from InDepthBBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day.
Emma Barnett and John Simpson bring their pick of the most thought-provoking deep reads and analysis, every Saturday. Sign up for the newsletter hereGet in touchAre you personally affected by the issues raised in this story?State schools