North Durham Academy

Academy sponsor led·Secondary school Stanley, County Durham·DH9 0TW
Composite score
49.7
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#2,538
National rank
#116
In North East
#25
In County Durham
Top 80%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
39.8
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
32%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
51%
% EBacc grade 5+
3%
EBacc average points score
3.21

Ofsted judgements

Legacy framework · Read full report ↗

Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good
Safeguarding effective?
Yes

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
119 first choices, 163 places
First choices per place
0.73
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
256
any preference, for 163 places
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.01
00.511.5
1 per place
0.8020220.7020230.5820240.7420250.732026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put North Durham Academy first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–16
Pupils on roll
976
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
52.0%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
4.7%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
12.8%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
2.7%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
14.7%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
45.3%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
15.5
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,395
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
75%
173 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
65%
Apprenticeship
2%
Employment
8%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

About North Durham Academy

North Durham Academy is a secondary school in Stanley, County Durham, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy. Around 976 pupils aged 11 to 16 attend the school. The school holds a 'Good' judgement from Ofsted. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 39.8 — below the national average (national average: 46). Performance is little changed year on year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

32% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 51% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made North Durham Academy their first choice was offered one of its 163 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 75% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 14.7%. There are about 15.5 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 52% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.

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