The Oaks Secondary School
Rock Road, Spennymoor, DL16 7DB
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Community special school
- Ages
- 11 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Executive Head Teacher
- Mr Martyn Tweddle
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Pupils on roll
- 349
- URN
- 134662
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01388827380
About this school
The Oaks Secondary School is a community special school in Spennymoor. It teaches children aged 11 to 19 and has 349 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 18 May 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Outstanding. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 55 | 62 | 72 |
| Attainment 8 score | 3.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Progress 8 score | -1.64 -2.03 to -1.25 | -1.69 -2.05 to -1.33 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 2% | 1.6% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 2% | 3.2% | 1.4% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.2 | 0.3 | 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 Oaks Secondary 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 | 3 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 4 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 3.5 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 348 |
| 2023/24 | 353 |
| 2024/25 | 349 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 61.13%
- English as an additional language
- 2%
- Overall absence
- 8.03%
- Persistent absence
- 20.86%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Meadows Academy0.5 miles
Academies · Spennymoor
-
Aycliffe Secure Centre2.4 miles
Other types · Ferryhill
-
The Grange Learning Centre2.5 miles
Special schools · Low Willington
-
The Woodlands2.6 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Ferryhill
-
Evergreen Primary School3.9 miles
Special schools · Bishop Auckland
Other schools in Spennymoor
- The Meadows Academy Academies
- 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 year groups does The Oaks Secondary School teach?
- The Oaks Secondary School teaches children aged 11 to 19. It is a special school in Spennymoor.
- Who is the executive head teacher of The Oaks Secondary School?
- The executive head teacher of The Oaks Secondary School is Mr Martyn Tweddle, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Oaks Secondary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Oaks Secondary 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 The Oaks Secondary School?
- The Oaks Secondary School has 349 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 19.
- Is The Oaks Secondary School a faith school?
- No. The Oaks Secondary School has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does The Oaks Secondary School have?
- The schools register lists The Oaks Secondary School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder; MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have The Oaks Secondary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 3 in 2022/23 and 3.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is The Oaks Secondary School's absence rate?
- The Oaks Secondary School's overall absence rate is 8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Oaks Secondary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Oaks Secondary 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 1 July 2026.