Teesside High School, Tayside High School

• Location: Teesside, England,
• Year of foundation: 1970,
• Language of instruction: English,
• Type of studying: mixed. 

Teesside High School is an independent coeducational school for boys and girls ages 3–18, with Prep, Senior, and Sixth Form divisions.

The school received an outstanding rating in an ISI inspection and is among the top 15% of independent schools in the United Kingdom.

Riverbank Nursery welcomes children from six months to age 4.

In Nursery and Reception, each teacher serves as the Key Person for every child in the class. In Prep School, the Form Teacher meets with students daily and leads an informal Form Period once a week to discuss concerns and celebrate achievements.

Every Senior School student has a form tutor and meets daily with a mixed-age group from the same House. The Pastoral Support Officer supports the tutors. The PSHE program covers study skills, career goals, citizenship, the environment, health, and financial well-being.

The average referral time to the school counselor is two weeks. After an initial assessment, the school covers six counseling sessions.

Students can progress through the following divisions at Teesside High School:

• Nursery,
• Reception and Prep Department for children ages 4–11,
• Senior,
• Sixth Form.

• In 2025, Teesside High School achieved a 100% A-level pass rate for the seventh consecutive year. Of all examination entries, 20% received A*–A grades and 57% received A*–B grades,
• in 2026, a Year 11 student became the youngest athlete ever selected to represent the UK at the Pony Club Tetrathlon International exchange. She placed fourth in the series of events in Australia and won the Pony Club UK Championship for the second consecutive year in the Open Class, which is for competitors under 25.

• The Teesside High School uniform can be purchased from the school's official partner — Schoolblazer,
• The historic school buildings were demolished in 1970, making way for the current school complex.

Sixth Form students may eat in the on-site Dining Hall or visit nearby shops and cafés.

Teesside High School’s extracurricular program gives students a range of ways to spend their free time. Dedicated activity periods begin at 3:00 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Activities fall into three areas: physical fitness, intellectual and creative development, and volunteering. Each semester, children and teenagers can choose several options in each category.

Examples of extracurricular activities include:

• running club, badminton, fitness training, laser pistol shooting, volleyball, gymnastics, school team sports, hockey, netball, cricket, rugby, girls' soccer, trampolining, table tennis, and golf,
• TYT Senior School Youth Theatre, Forest School, debating, biology club, classical music, puzzles, astronomy for beginners, British Sign Language, Rubik's Cube, orchestra, swing band, choir, rock band, European film club, and classes in Japanese, Italian, Spanish, and Ancient Greek,
• community litter picking and visits to nursing homes.

Students belong to one of three Houses: Cleveland, Victoria, or Woodside. Sixth Form students can take part in the Duke of Edinburgh program and residential trips to New York, Norway, and Krakow. During school breaks, teacher-led trips also take students to Italy, Austria, Iceland, Germany, America, and Poland.

• Teesside High School combines high academic standards, small classes, and pastoral care in a supportive environment,
• Sixth Form had the highest A-level Progress Score among sixteen schools and colleges for students aged 16+ in Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Darlington, Redcar, and Cleveland in Department for Education figures published in February 2025. Its score of 0.42 was rated well above average, the only result at that level in the Tees Valley. Pupils achieved almost half a grade above their predicted A-level results on average,
• The school ranks in the top 2% in England for its A-level program and among the top 100 in the United Kingdom,
• 95% of graduates entered their first-choice university.

Teesside High School occupies the former Woodside Hall estate, with nearly 8 hectares of landscaped gardens. The campus has undergone extensive renovations, including work on the main hall, kitchen, dining area, Design & Technology workshop, Senior classrooms, and riverside sports facilities. Six tennis courts and the netball courts were upgraded, while a field hockey pitch, an outdoor fitness area, and a five-a-side soccer pitch were added. The work also created a 130-seat dining hall and a café-style quick-service outlet. The food preparation and healthy eating area moved upstairs, next to a new spacious art studio.

The campus includes:

• a synthetic-surface Prep School playground for tennis, hockey, soccer, and basketball,
• Forest School,
• a two-story teaching block for senior students with a terrace and a meeting room overlooking the woodlands and the banks of the River Tees,
• a Design & Technology workshop with six woodwork benches, eight woodworking and metalworking machines, a 3D printer, a CNC milling machine, and a laser cutter.

Parents of Teesside High School students may need to cover these additional expenses:

• meals,
• accommodation,
• excursions,
• state examination charges and school transportation where needed,
• school uniforms.

Textbooks and writing materials are provided at no extra charge. An Acceptance Fee of £300 is payable when a place is accepted and is credited against the first invoice. A £300 deposit is due with that invoice.

Teesside High School requests the child’s latest school report and a reference from the Head of their current school. An offer follows a successful Taster Day and satisfactory references and remains open for one calendar month. Enrollment requires completed, signed consent forms and an agreed start date.

The school offers a personal consultation and a guided tour. Smapse specialists will support you at every stage of enrollment.

More than 90% of applicants who attend a Taster Day subsequently enroll at Teesside High School.

In 2024, 20% of A-level entries were graded A*–A and 60% were graded A*–B. Almost 40% of GCSE entries received grades 9–7, over a third of pupils secured five or more grades at 9–7, and 81% achieved five GCSEs at grades 9–4. Attainment in the Early Years Foundation Stage is described as well above the level usually expected for pupils' age.

Career guidance begins in Year 8, with visits from external speakers and experts. In Year 9, all pupils receive individual assessments and guidance from professional career counselors.

In Year 10, pupils can use Futurewise career guidance, which includes a meeting with a counselor and further career discussions until age 24. In the final school years, this is combined with support for UCAS applications. Pupils can also take part in mock university interviews with visiting specialists.

Every spring term, pupils in Years 9–13 are invited to an evening careers conference at the school, organized as a job fair.

General admissions at Teesside High School focus on each child's abilities and aspirations rather than academic achievement alone. Sixth Form entry in Year 12 has specific academic requirements: at least five GCSEs at grade 5 or above, including grade 6 in the A-level subjects the pupil wishes to study.

The Board of Governors aims to maintain bursary funding for families with limited means whose children would otherwise be unable to attend Teesside High School. Parents may request this support when applying for admission. A bursary is typically a modest percentage reduction in tuition, calculated on a sliding scale after a review of the family’s income, expenses, assets, and liabilities. Awards are made for one academic year. Families must complete another financial review to renew support, and the amount may change from year to year.

Another form of support is available to gifted and talented Senior School students. These scholarships are awarded based on written tests, auditions or trials, and an interview with a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Awards include:

• Cleveland Scholarship for Girls and Queen Victoria Scholarship for Boys provide a 15% annual tuition discount through Year 11,
• the Sixth Form academic scholarship provides a 20% annual tuition discount throughout Years 12 and 13,
• Governors’ Award for Academic Excellence includes a 20% annual tuition discount and the opportunity to apply for a means-tested bursary,
• the music scholarship includes ten lessons per term on the recipient’s first choice instrument,
• one sports scholarship provides a 10% annual tuition discount through Year 11. The Sixth Form sports scholarship provides a 20% annual tuition discount throughout Years 12 and 13.

• Guardianship services during the studies
• Student supervision