The new school had different governors, a new head, Max Williams, and all the teachers had to reapply for their jobs. The 3-form entry modern school became an 8-10 form entry comprehensive school, with 39 teachers and over 600 pupils in its first year. There were children from Swalwell (~1.5 forms) and Dunston (1 form of borderline O level pupils who didn't go to the grammar school ). When Dunston Comprehensive was built in 1972 the Dunston children went there. The school expanded rapidly as J.T. Bell was building 200 houses per year and new primary schools were being built. Children from Marley Hill and Byermoor were coming to Whickham, but Swalwell children were going to Dunston. In 1973 21 additional teachers were appointed.

In 1974 when the boundaries were altered, Whickham became part of Gateshead M.B.C. and Whickham Comprehensive became more of a Whickham school. The children from Winlaton stopped coming and went to Blaydon, which became comprehensive in 1974. In 1976 the school had the first 6th form built up from the comprehensive intake.

There were 4 building programmes in the first ten years to accommodate the increasing number of children and provide extra facilities. The school population doubled in that time. By 1979 Whickham was the largest school in the area and probably the most successful. In 1980 Gateshead M.B.C. decided that it should be just an 8-form entry school as people were using all manner of means to get their children onto the school roll, eg. sending children to live with other members of the family. However, in the 1980s Margaret Thatcher introduced parental choice for the selection of a school for a child, so the intake broadened again and Swalwell children started to return.

When Max Williams took early retirement in 1984 on health grounds (he had cancer) there were 1300 pupils with about 300 in the sixth form. The school was organised into a house system with 6 houses by 1984. There were 82 members of staff. Bill Smith, who was Deputy Head, was appointed as the new Headmaster. In his time, when there was talk of Gateshead having a tertiary college, he tried to get the school to opt out of Local Authority control but the parents voted against it. The school is now under the L.M.S. scheme.
In 1983 Mike Hind, The P.E, Master became a Head of House. In 1984 Gateshead was choosing 2 schools where night classes could be held. Mike Hind was appointed to oversee this at Whickham and he got them off the ground. They are independent of the school structure, they just use the building.

Max Williams sees the school as having been an early experimental comprehensive which turned into a very successful comprehensive and then a community school. At his retirement party he told Bill Smith that each day when he went into school he would be surprised by something.

On his second day as Head, a mother burst into his room and demanded to know "And what is the matter with orange knickers?" The previous day the children had been told that they needed navy knickers for P.E. The girl's father had sent the mother up to the school to ask the aforementioned question!