North Durham Academy
High Street, Stanley, DH9 0TW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- CONNECT MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST
- Executive Principal
- Mrs Gemma Knox
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- New College Durham Academies Trust
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Constituency
- North Durham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,700
- Pupils on roll
- 935
- URN
- 136745
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01207292180
About this school
North Durham Academy is a secondary academy in Stanley. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 935 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected North Durham Academy, 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 173 | 189 | 180 |
| Attainment 8 score | 35.9 | 39.8 | 39.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.79 -1.01 to -0.58 | -0.43 -0.63 to -0.22 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 21% | 27.5% | 31.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 40% | 48.1% | 51.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 27% | 18.5% | 6.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.0 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
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 North Durham Academy 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 | 35.9 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.8 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.8 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,007 |
| 2023/24 | 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 976 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How North Durham Academy compares
North Durham Academy ranked 26th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 38% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.8 | 12.2% | 52% | 935 | — |
| Tanfield School | 57.5 | 6.6% | 32.8% | 739 | 0.7 miles |
| St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Lanchester | 44.9 | 8.6% | 19.7% | 1,240 | 3.7 miles |
| Hermitage Academy | 49.1 | 7.4% | 31.2% | 881 | 4.1 miles |
| Whickham School | 53 | 8.1% | 22.6% | 1,690 | 4.8 miles |
| Park View School | 46.4 | 7.3% | 24.2% | 1,631 | 4.9 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 51.95%
- English as an additional language
- 4.7%
- Overall absence
- 12.23%
- Persistent absence
- 36.77%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Tanfield School0.7 miles
Secondary · Stanley
-
St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Lanchester3.7 miles
Secondary · Durham
-
Hermitage Academy4.1 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
-
Whickham School4.8 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Park View School4.9 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
Other schools in Stanley
- Tanfield School Secondary
- 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
Common questions
- What ages does North Durham Academy teach?
- North Durham Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Stanley.
- Who is the executive principal of North Durham Academy?
- The executive principal of North Durham Academy is Mrs Gemma Knox, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has North Durham Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected North Durham Academy, 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 North Durham Academy?
- North Durham Academy has 935 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is North Durham Academy full?
- North Durham Academy has capacity for 1,700 pupils and 935 on roll (55%), 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 North Durham Academy a faith school?
- No. North Durham Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is North Durham Academy a selective school?
- No. North Durham Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is North Durham Academy part of an academy trust?
- North Durham Academy is part of CONNECT MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does North Durham Academy have?
- The schools register lists North Durham Academy's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication; SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have North Durham Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 35.9 in 2022/23 and 39.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does North Durham Academy compare with other schools in County Durham?
- North Durham Academy ranked 26th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 38% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is North Durham Academy's absence rate?
- North Durham Academy's overall absence rate is 12.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are North Durham Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, North Durham Academy'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.