Parkside Academy
Hall Lane Estate, Willington, Crook, DL15 0QF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ADVANCE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mrs Kelly Armstrong
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Advance Learning Partnership
- Constituency
- City of Durham
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 833
- URN
- 137903
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01388746396
About this school
Parkside Academy is a secondary academy in Crook. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 833 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Parkside Academy, 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
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 | 165 | 169 | 174 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.7 | 42.6 | 46.9 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.02 -0.20 to +0.23 | +0.01 -0.21 to +0.22 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 45% | 32.5% | 56.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 59.2% | 69% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 38% | 20.1% | 32.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 3.6 | 4.0 |
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 Parkside 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 | 48.7 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42.6 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 46.9 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 965 |
| 2023/24 | 918 |
| 2024/25 | 881 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Parkside Academy compares
Parkside Academy ranked 13th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46.9 | 11.5% | 39.6% | 833 | — |
| Whitworth Park Academy | 50.4 | 8.9% | 39.3% | 996 | 3.1 miles |
| King James I Academy Bishop Auckland | 43.9 | 9.1% | 51.2% | 936 | 3.3 miles |
| Bishop Barrington Academy | 39.4 | 11.3% | 51.7% | 599 | 3.8 miles |
| St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College | 46.4 | 8.5% | 27.1% | 1,229 | 3.9 miles |
| Ferryhill School | 41.5 | 9.4% | 46.8% | 727 | 4.8 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)
- 39.61%
- English as an additional language
- 0.6%
- Overall absence
- 11.46%
- Persistent absence
- 32.13%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Whitworth Park Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Spennymoor
-
King James I Academy Bishop Auckland3.3 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
Bishop Barrington Academy3.8 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College3.9 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
Ferryhill School4.8 miles
Secondary · Ferryhill
Other schools in Crook
- Crook Primary School Primary
- Hartside Primary Academy Primary
- Howden-le-Wear Primary School Primary
- Hunwick Primary School Primary
- Peases West Academy Primary
- St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Crook Primary
- St Stephen's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Stanley (Crook) Primary School Primary
- Sunnybrow Primary School Primary
- Willington Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Parkside Academy teach?
- Parkside Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Crook.
- Who is the headteacher of Parkside Academy?
- The headteacher of Parkside Academy is Mrs Kelly Armstrong, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Parkside Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Parkside 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 Parkside Academy?
- Parkside Academy has 833 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Parkside Academy full?
- Parkside Academy has capacity for 900 pupils and 833 on roll (93%), 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 Parkside Academy a faith school?
- No. Parkside Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Parkside Academy a selective school?
- No. Parkside Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Parkside Academy part of an academy trust?
- Parkside Academy is part of ADVANCE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Parkside Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48.7 in 2022/23 and 46.9 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Parkside Academy compare with other schools in County Durham?
- Parkside Academy ranked 13th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 65% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Parkside Academy's absence rate?
- Parkside Academy's overall absence rate is 11.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Parkside Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Parkside 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.