Operating under the two-tier system in North Tyneside, the school takes students from age 11-18.

[1] The joint sixth form used to be in partnership with Seaton Burn College and branded as the Northwest Cluster.

The school was originally built in, and opened officially for the new year in September 1953.

In the winter of 2014, construction company Galliford Try began work on the new £14m school, in the middle of the existing site.

This involved the demolition of the City Learning Centre, Sports Hall, Library and Sixth Form Building.