Newker Primary School
Waldridge Road, Chester le Street, DH2 3AA
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Melanie Kirkland
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- North Durham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 340
- URN
- 131233
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01913887099
About this school
Newker Primary School is a community primary school in Chester le Street. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 340 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school 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 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
- Good
- 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 | 59 | 57 | 59 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 59% | 70% | 69% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 10% | 4% | 7% |
| Expected standard in reading | 69% | 84% | 83% |
| Expected standard in maths | 75% | 84% | 78% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 73% | 75% | 81% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 107.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 105.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | 0.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.90 | - | - |
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 Newker 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 | 59% | 58% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 70% | 58.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 69% | 60% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 414 |
| 2023/24 | 386 |
| 2024/25 | 378 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Newker Primary School compares
Newker Primary School ranked 66th of 185 primary schools in County Durham for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 63% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 52% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 69% | 5.4% | 30.7% | 340 | — |
| Bullion Lane Primary School | 94% | 6% | 68.4% | 292 | 0.1 miles |
| Cestria Primary School | 74% | 3% | 17.1% | 426 | 0.5 miles |
| Red Rose Primary School | 81% | 4.1% | 14.8% | 294 | 0.5 miles |
| St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Chester-Le-Street | 77% | 3.4% | 8.8% | 216 | 0.5 miles |
| Chester-Le-Street CofE (Controlled) Primary School | 66% | 6.6% | 30.6% | 260 | 0.8 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)
- 30.68%
- English as an additional language
- 3.2%
- Overall absence
- 5.37%
- Persistent absence
- 12.03%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Bullion Lane Primary School0.1 miles
Primary · Chester le Street
-
Cestria Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Chester le Street
-
Red Rose Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Chester le Street
-
St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Chester-Le-Street0.5 miles
Primary · Chester le Street
-
Chester-Le-Street CofE (Controlled) Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Chester le Street
Other schools in Chester le Street
Newker Primary School ranks 9th of the 16 ranked primary schools in Chester le Street.
- Barley Mow Primary School Primary
- Bullion Lane Primary School Primary
- Cestria Primary School Primary
- Chester-Le-Street CofE (Controlled) Primary School Primary
- Lumley Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Lumley Junior School Primary
- Nettlesworth Primary School Primary
- Ouston Primary School Primary
- Pelton Community Primary School Primary
- Portobello Primary School Primary
- Ravensworth Terrace Primary School Primary
- Red Rose Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Newker Primary School teach?
- Newker Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Chester le Street.
- Who is the headteacher of Newker Primary School?
- The headteacher of Newker Primary School is Mrs Melanie Kirkland, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Newker Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Newker 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 big is Newker Primary School?
- Newker Primary School has 340 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Newker Primary School full?
- Newker Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 340 on roll (81%), 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 Newker Primary School a faith school?
- No. Newker Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Newker Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Newker Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Newker Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 59% in 2022/23 and 69% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Newker Primary School rank locally?
- Newker Primary School ranked 66th of 185 primary schools in County Durham for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 63% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 52% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Newker Primary School's absence rate?
- Newker Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Newker Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Newker 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.