Victoria Lane Academy
Victoria Lane, Coundon, Bishop Auckland, DL14 8NN
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- TUDHOE LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Miss Heather Whitfield
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Tudhoe Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Bishop Auckland
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 240
- Pupils on roll
- 155
- URN
- 138555
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01388603588
About this school
Victoria Lane Academy is a primary academy in Bishop Auckland. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 155 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. 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
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 27 | 23 | 26 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 63% | 74% | 46% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 4% | 4% |
| Expected standard in reading | 78% | 96% | 73% |
| Expected standard in maths | 74% | 78% | 65% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 70% | 91% | 77% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 109.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 104.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | 0.00 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -2.40 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Victoria Lane 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 | 63% | 58% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 74% | 58.4% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 46% | 60% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 189 |
| 2023/24 | 171 |
| 2024/25 | 172 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Victoria Lane Academy compares
Victoria Lane Academy ranked 158th of 185 primary schools in County Durham for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 17% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46% | 9.2% | 58.8% | 155 | — |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon | 70% | 5.8% | 52.6% | 100 | 0.0 miles |
| Prince Bishops Community Primary School | — | — | — | 210 | 1.3 miles |
| Kirk Merrington Primary School | 83% | 3.3% | 11.1% | 180 | 1.5 miles |
| St Andrew's Academy | 46% | 4.3% | 42.7% | 191 | 1.9 miles |
| Cockton Hill Junior School | 54% | 5.5% | 56.7% | 187 | 2.0 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)
- 58.75%
- English as an additional language
- 3.5%
- Overall absence
- 9.17%
- Persistent absence
- 24.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon0.0 miles
Primary · Bishop Auckland
-
Prince Bishops Community Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Bishop Auckland
-
Kirk Merrington Primary School1.5 miles
Primary · Spennymoor
-
St Andrew's Academy1.9 miles
Primary · Bishop Auckland
-
Cockton Hill Junior School2.0 miles
Primary · Bishop Auckland
Other schools in Bishop Auckland
Victoria Lane Academy ranks 17th of the 22 ranked primary schools in Bishop Auckland.
- Blessed John Duckett Catholic Primary School, Tow Law Primary
- Butterknowle Primary School Primary
- Cockfield Primary School Primary
- Cockton Hill Infant School Primary
- Cockton Hill Junior School Primary
- Copeland Road Primary School Primary
- Escomb Primary School Primary
- Etherley Lane Primary School Primary
- Evenwood Church of England Primary School Primary
- Frosterley Primary School Primary
- Hamsterley Primary School Primary
- Oakley Cross Primary School and Nursery Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Victoria Lane Academy teach?
- Victoria Lane Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Bishop Auckland.
- Who is the headteacher of Victoria Lane Academy?
- The headteacher of Victoria Lane Academy is Miss Heather Whitfield, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Victoria Lane Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Victoria Lane 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 big is Victoria Lane Academy?
- Victoria Lane Academy has 155 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Victoria Lane Academy full?
- Victoria Lane Academy has capacity for 240 pupils and 155 on roll (65%), 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 Victoria Lane Academy a faith school?
- No. Victoria Lane Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Victoria Lane Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Victoria Lane Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Victoria Lane Academy?
- Victoria Lane Academy is part of TUDHOE LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Victoria Lane Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 63% in 2022/23 and 46% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Victoria Lane Academy rank locally?
- Victoria Lane Academy ranked 158th of 185 primary schools in County Durham for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 17% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 11% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Victoria Lane Academy's absence rate?
- Victoria Lane Academy's overall absence rate is 9.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Victoria Lane Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Victoria Lane 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.