Escomb Primary School
Three Lane Ends, Escomb, Bishop Auckland, DL14 7SR
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Emma Woodhouse
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Bishop Auckland
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 160
- URN
- 114103
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01388603273
About this school
Escomb Primary School is a community primary school in Bishop Auckland. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 160 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Escomb Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 30 | 26 | 28 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 57% | 69% | 57% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 0% | 4% |
| Expected standard in reading | 67% | 85% | 79% |
| Expected standard in maths | 70% | 85% | 68% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 70% | 77% | 61% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 104.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +3.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.10 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Escomb Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | County Durham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 57% | 58% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 69% | 58.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 57% | 60% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 190 |
| 2023/24 | 182 |
| 2024/25 | 165 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Escomb Primary School compares
Escomb Primary School ranked 122nd of 185 primary schools in County Durham for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 76% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57% | 4.3% | 13.3% | 160 | — |
| St Chad's Catholic Primary School, Witton Park | 67% | 6.4% | 31.8% | 57 | 1.0 miles |
| St Anne's CofE Primary School | 73% | 4.2% | 13.6% | 238 | 1.2 miles |
| St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Bishop Auckland | 40% | 6.9% | 53.4% | 219 | 1.2 miles |
| Etherley Lane Primary School | 65% | 6% | 45.2% | 190 | 1.2 miles |
| Woodhouse Primary Academy | — | 10.6% | 74.3% | 176 | 1.4 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 13.33%
- English as an additional language
- 0.6%
- Overall absence
- 4.33%
- Persistent absence
- 10%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Chad's Catholic Primary School, Witton Park1.0 miles
Primary · Bishop Auckland
-
St Anne's CofE Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Bishop Auckland
-
St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Bishop Auckland1.2 miles
Primary · Bishop Auckland
-
Etherley Lane Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Bishop Auckland
-
Woodhouse Primary Academy1.4 miles
Primary · Bishop Auckland
Other schools in Bishop Auckland
Escomb Primary School ranks 11th of the 22 ranked primary schools in Bishop Auckland.
- Blessed John Duckett Catholic Primary School, Tow Law Primary
- Butterknowle Primary School Primary
- Cockfield Primary School Primary
- Cockton Hill Infant School Primary
- Cockton Hill Junior School Primary
- Copeland Road Primary School Primary
- Etherley Lane Primary School Primary
- Evenwood Church of England Primary School Primary
- Frosterley Primary School Primary
- Hamsterley Primary School Primary
- Oakley Cross Primary School and Nursery Primary
- Prince Bishops Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Escomb Primary School teach?
- Escomb Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Bishop Auckland.
- Who is the headteacher of Escomb Primary School?
- The headteacher of Escomb Primary School is Mrs Emma Woodhouse, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Escomb Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Escomb Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Escomb Primary School?
- Escomb Primary School has 160 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Escomb Primary School full?
- Escomb Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 160 on roll (76%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Escomb Primary School a faith school?
- No. Escomb Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Escomb Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Escomb Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Escomb Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 57% in 2022/23 and 57% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Escomb Primary School compare with other schools in County Durham?
- Escomb Primary School ranked 122nd of 185 primary schools in County Durham for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 34% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 76% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Escomb Primary School's absence rate?
- Escomb Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Escomb Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Escomb Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 15 July 2026.