Park View School
Church Chare, Chester le Street, DH3 3QA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- PARK VIEW ACADEMY
- Headteacher
- Mr Andrew Finley
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- North Durham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,484
- Pupils on roll
- 1,631
- URN
- 136971
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01913882248
About this school
Park View School is a secondary academy in Chester le Street. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,631 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Park View School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 239 | 229 | 234 |
| Attainment 8 score | 49.1 | 47.5 | 46.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.04 -0.22 to +0.14 | -0.14 -0.32 to +0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 50% | 44.5% | 39.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 68% | 66.4% | 63.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 52% | 49.8% | 15.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.4 | 4.3 | 3.8 |
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 Park View 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 | 49.1 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.5 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.4 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,608 |
| 2023/24 | 1,622 |
| 2024/25 | 1,617 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Park View School compares
Park View School ranked 15th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 22% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.4 | 7.3% | 24.2% | 1,631 | — |
| Hermitage Academy | 49.1 | 7.4% | 31.2% | 881 | 0.9 miles |
| Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy | 46.6 | 7.9% | 32.1% | 1,334 | 2.6 miles |
| St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington | 48.9 | 7.8% | 16.9% | 1,527 | 3.0 miles |
| Oxclose Community Academy | 41.8 | 11% | 38% | 1,029 | 3.0 miles |
| Biddick Academy | 42.5 | 10.4% | 31% | 1,002 | 3.2 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)
- 24.24%
- English as an additional language
- 1.5%
- Overall absence
- 7.32%
- Persistent absence
- 20.97%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hermitage Academy0.9 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
-
Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy2.6 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
-
St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington3.0 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Oxclose Community Academy3.0 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Biddick Academy3.2 miles
Secondary · Washington
Other schools in Chester le Street
- Hermitage Academy Secondary
- Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy Secondary
- 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
- Newker Primary School Primary
- Ouston Primary School Primary
- Pelton Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Park View School teach?
- Park View School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Chester le Street.
- Who is the headteacher of Park View School?
- The headteacher of Park View School is Mr Andrew Finley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Park View School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Park View 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 Park View School?
- Park View School has 1,631 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Park View School full?
- Park View School has capacity for 1,484 pupils and 1,631 on roll (110%), so it is at or above 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 Park View School a faith school?
- No. Park View School has no designated religious character.
- Is Park View School a selective school?
- No. Park View School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Park View School part of an academy trust?
- Park View School is part of PARK VIEW ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Park View School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 49.1 in 2022/23 and 46.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Park View School compare with other schools in County Durham?
- Park View School ranked 15th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 63% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 22% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Park View School's absence rate?
- Park View School's overall absence rate is 7.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Park View School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Park View 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.