Tanfield Lea Community Primary School
Tanfield Lea, Stanley, DH9 9LU
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Mark Temple
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- North Durham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 400
- Pupils on roll
- 325
- URN
- 131545
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01207234500
About this school
Tanfield Lea Community Primary School is a community primary school in Stanley. It teaches children aged 2 to 11 and has 325 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Tanfield Lea Community 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 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
- Strong standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Strong 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 | 48 | 52 | 42 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 69% | 63% | 64% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 19% | 6% | 2% |
| Expected standard in reading | 85% | 75% | 76% |
| Expected standard in maths | 85% | 81% | 79% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 71% | 71% | 64% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.90 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.10 | - | - |
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 Tanfield Lea Community 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 | 69% | 58% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 63% | 58.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 64% | 60% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 352 |
| 2023/24 | 336 |
| 2024/25 | 351 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Tanfield Lea Community Primary School compares
Tanfield Lea Community Primary School ranked 96th of 185 primary schools in County Durham for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 50% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 81% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 64% | 4.1% | 30.8% | 325 | — |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary, Stanley | 72% | 4% | 20.7% | 203 | 1.1 miles |
| Shield Row Primary School | 65% | 6.2% | 37.1% | 196 | 1.3 miles |
| St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Dipton | 70% | 4.6% | 25.4% | 141 | 1.3 miles |
| South Stanley Infant and Nursery School | — | 4.1% | 63.9% | 113 | 1.5 miles |
| East Stanley School | 54% | 4.6% | 47.2% | 174 | 1.5 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)
- 30.79%
- English as an additional language
- 3.1%
- Overall absence
- 4.12%
- Persistent absence
- 5.91%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary, Stanley1.1 miles
Primary · Stanley
-
Shield Row Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Stanley
-
St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Dipton1.3 miles
Primary · Stanley
-
South Stanley Infant and Nursery School1.5 miles
Primary · Stanley
-
East Stanley School1.5 miles
Primary · Stanley
Other schools in Stanley
Tanfield Lea Community Primary School ranks 8th of the 15 ranked primary schools in Stanley.
- 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
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary, Stanley Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Tanfield Lea Community Primary School teach?
- Tanfield Lea Community Primary School teaches children aged 2 to 11. It is a primary school in Stanley.
- Who is the headteacher of Tanfield Lea Community Primary School?
- The headteacher of Tanfield Lea Community Primary School is Mr Mark Temple, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Tanfield Lea Community Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Tanfield Lea Community 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 Tanfield Lea Community Primary School?
- Tanfield Lea Community Primary School has 325 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 2 to 11.
- Is Tanfield Lea Community Primary School full?
- Tanfield Lea Community Primary School has capacity for 400 pupils and 325 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 Tanfield Lea Community Primary School a faith school?
- No. Tanfield Lea Community Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Tanfield Lea Community Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Tanfield Lea Community Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Tanfield Lea Community Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 69% in 2022/23 and 64% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Tanfield Lea Community Primary School compare with other schools in County Durham?
- Tanfield Lea Community Primary School ranked 96th of 185 primary schools in County Durham for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 50% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 81% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Tanfield Lea Community Primary School's absence rate?
- Tanfield Lea Community Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Tanfield Lea Community Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Tanfield Lea Community 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.