The Meadows School
Whitworth Lane, Spennymoor, DL16 7QW
This school is closed (it closed in January 2025).
It was replaced by The Meadows Academy. That page has the school's current information.
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Head Teacher
- Mr A McGarry
- SEN provision
- SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Constituency
- Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor
- Setting
- (England/Wales) Urban city and town
- Capacity
- 75
- Pupils on roll
- 63
- URN
- 131905
- Local authority
- County Durham
About this school
The Meadows School was a community special school in Spennymoor. It taught children aged 11 to 16 and had 63 pupils on roll.
Ofsted did not inspect it under the current framework.
Ofsted judgement
The Meadows School has not been inspected by Ofsted yet. It opened in its current form in September 1999, and new or converted schools usually wait a few years for their first inspection.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 10 | 17 | 16 |
| Attainment 8 score | 7.2 | 10.2 | 5.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -2.55 -3.48 to -1.63 | -2.01 -2.68 to -1.34 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 5.9% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
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 The Meadows 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 | 7.2 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 10.2 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 5.7 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 24.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 31.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 29.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 64 |
| 2023/24 | 61 |
| 2024/25 | 63 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 74.6%
- English as an additional language
- 1.6%
- Overall absence
- 29.87%
- Persistent absence
- 59.09%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Meadows Academy0.0 miles
Academies · Spennymoor
-
The Oaks Secondary School0.5 miles
Special schools · Spennymoor
-
The Grange Learning Centre2.0 miles
Special schools · Low Willington
-
The Woodlands2.9 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Ferryhill
-
Aycliffe Secure Centre3.0 miles
Other types · Ferryhill
Other schools in Spennymoor
- The Meadows Academy Academies
- The Oaks Secondary School Special schools
- Tudhoe Moor Nursery School Nursery
- Byers Green Primary School Primary
- King Street Primary School Primary
- Kirk Merrington Primary School Primary
- North Park Primary School Primary
- Rosa Street Primary and Nursery Academy Primary
- Springmoor Grange School Primary
- St Charles' Catholic Primary School, Tudhoe Primary
- Tudhoe Colliery Primary School Primary
- Whitworth Park Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does The Meadows School teach?
- The Meadows School taught children aged 11 to 16. It was a special school in Spennymoor.
- Has The Meadows School been inspected?
- Ofsted has not inspected The Meadows School under its current framework, so no current judgement is shown. That is common for newer schools and is not a mark against a school.
- How many pupils are at The Meadows School?
- The Meadows School had 63 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- How have The Meadows School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 7.2 in 2022/23 and 5.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What are The Meadows School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Meadows 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 9 July 2025.