Croft Community School
Greencroft Road End, Annfield Plain, Stanley, DH9 8PR
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 4 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Lee Davis
- SEN provision
- SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- North Durham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 281
- Pupils on roll
- 316
- URN
- 114340
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01207234547
About this school
Croft Community School is a community special school in Stanley. It teaches children aged 4 to 16 and has 316 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Croft Community 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
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- 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 | 9 | 13 | 26 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 0% | 4% |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | 101.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | 96.0 |
| Reading progress | -11.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -10.40 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -10.60 | - | - |
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.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 27 | 45 | 16 |
| Attainment 8 score | 7.5 | 5.1 | 2.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.87 -2.43 to -1.30 | -2.05 -2.49 to -1.61 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 7% | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 7% | 6.7% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Croft Community 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 | 0% | 58% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 58.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 0% | 60% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | County Durham average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 5.1 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 2.1 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 230 |
| 2023/24 | 253 |
| 2024/25 | 287 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report13 January 2026
- 12 October 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 62.02%
- English as an additional language
- 0.7%
- Overall absence
- 13.65%
- Persistent absence
- 36.45%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Villa Real School3.0 miles
Special schools · Consett
-
Hassockfield Secure Training Centre3.1 miles
Other types · Consett
-
Learning for Life3.4 miles
Other types · Consett
-
Delta Independent School3.7 miles
Independent schools · Consett
-
Liberty School6.4 miles
Independent schools · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Other schools in Stanley
- Oxhill Nursery School Nursery
- Annfield Plain Infant School Primary
- Annfield Plain Junior School Primary
- Beamish Primary School Primary
- Bloemfontein Primary School Primary
- Catchgate Primary School Primary
- Collierley Nursery and Primary School Primary
- East Stanley School Primary
- Greenland Community Primary School Primary
- Shield Row Primary School Primary
- South Stanley Infant and Nursery School Primary
- South Stanley Junior School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Croft Community School teach?
- Croft Community School teaches children aged 4 to 16. It is a special school in Stanley.
- Who is the headteacher of Croft Community School?
- The headteacher of Croft Community School is Mr Lee Davis, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Croft Community School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Croft Community 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 Croft Community School?
- Croft Community School has 316 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 16.
- Is Croft Community School full?
- Croft Community School has capacity for 281 pupils and 316 on roll (112%), so it is at or above 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 Croft Community School a faith school?
- No. Croft Community School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does Croft Community School have?
- The schools register lists Croft Community School's special educational needs provision as: SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty; SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Croft Community School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Croft Community School's absence rate?
- Croft Community School's overall absence rate is 13.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Croft Community School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Croft Community 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.