Howletch Lane Primary School
Pennine Drive, County Durham, Peterlee, SR8 2NQ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Helen Beattie
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- SEN provision
- OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
- Constituency
- Easington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 399
- Pupils on roll
- 382
- URN
- 114198
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01915862765
About this school
Howletch Lane Primary School is a community primary school in Peterlee. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 382 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Howletch Lane 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 56 | 56 | 52 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 34% | 25% | 44% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 4% | 5% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 52% | 50% | 58% |
| Expected standard in maths | 55% | 29% | 56% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 48% | 45% | 58% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 101.0 | 102.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 98.0 | 100.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -3.90 | - | - |
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 Howletch Lane 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 | 34% | 58% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 25% | 58.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 44% | 60% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 373 |
| 2023/24 | 378 |
| 2024/25 | 380 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Howletch Lane Primary School compares
Howletch Lane Primary School ranked 162nd of 185 primary schools in County Durham for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 15% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44% | 7.5% | 38.4% | 382 | — |
| Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School | 74% | 5.8% | 50.8% | 191 | 0.4 miles |
| Acre Rigg Infant School | — | 5.7% | 52.9% | 252 | 0.6 miles |
| Acre Rigg Academy | 47% | 5.4% | 59% | 257 | 0.6 miles |
| Shotton Hall Primary School | 64% | 4.4% | 28.8% | 350 | 0.6 miles |
| Seascape Primary School | 7% | 10% | 73.8% | 263 | 1.2 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)
- 38.44%
- English as an additional language
- 2.9%
- Overall absence
- 7.48%
- Persistent absence
- 21.33%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Peterlee
-
Acre Rigg Infant School0.6 miles
Primary · Peterlee
-
Acre Rigg Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Peterlee
-
Shotton Hall Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Peterlee
-
Seascape Primary School1.2 miles
Primary · Peterlee
Other schools in Peterlee
Howletch Lane Primary School ranks 9th of the 10 ranked primary schools in Peterlee.
- Acre Rigg Academy Primary
- Acre Rigg Infant School Primary
- Cotsford Primary School Primary
- Dene House Primary School Primary
- Easington CofE Primary School Primary
- Easington Colliery Primary School Primary
- Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School Primary
- Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School Primary
- Seascape Primary School Primary
- Shotton Hall Primary School Primary
- Yohden Primary School Primary
- Horden Nursery School Nursery
Common questions
- What ages does Howletch Lane Primary School teach?
- Howletch Lane Primary School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Peterlee.
- Who is the headteacher of Howletch Lane Primary School?
- The headteacher of Howletch Lane Primary School is Mrs Helen Beattie, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Howletch Lane Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Howletch Lane 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 Howletch Lane Primary School?
- Howletch Lane Primary School has 382 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Howletch Lane Primary School full?
- Howletch Lane Primary School has capacity for 399 pupils and 382 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Howletch Lane Primary School a faith school?
- No. Howletch Lane Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Howletch Lane Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Howletch Lane Primary School as having nursery classes.
- What SEN provision does Howletch Lane Primary School have?
- The schools register lists Howletch Lane Primary School's special educational needs provision as: OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Howletch Lane Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 34% in 2022/23 and 44% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Howletch Lane Primary School compare with other schools in County Durham?
- Howletch Lane Primary School ranked 162nd of 185 primary schools in County Durham for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 15% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Howletch Lane Primary School's absence rate?
- Howletch Lane Primary School's overall absence rate is 7.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Howletch Lane Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Howletch Lane 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 30 June 2026.