Woodham Academy
Washington Crescent, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 4AX
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- EDEN LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Andrew Bell
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Eden Learning Trust
- SEN provision
- PD - Physical Disability
- Constituency
- Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,100
- Pupils on roll
- 1,071
- URN
- 138717
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01325300328
About this school
Woodham Academy is a secondary academy in Newton Aycliffe. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,071 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
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 19 April 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. 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 | 148 | 183 | 171 |
| Attainment 8 score | 47.2 | 46.4 | 48.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.02 -0.25 to +0.22 | +0.09 -0.12 to +0.29 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 42% | 38.8% | 46.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 64% | 66.1% | 65.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 39% | 54.1% | 53.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.4 |
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 Woodham 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 | 47.2 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 46.4 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 48.2 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,025 |
| 2023/24 | 1,038 |
| 2024/25 | 1,027 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Woodham Academy compares
Woodham Academy ranked 11th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 48.2 | 8.1% | 37.8% | 1,071 | — |
| Greenfield Academy | 35.7 | 13.2% | 58% | 566 | 1.6 miles |
| UTC South Durham | 39.2 | 9.1% | 34.5% | 421 | 2.2 miles |
| Ferryhill School | 41.5 | 9.4% | 46.8% | 727 | 4.0 miles |
| King James I Academy Bishop Auckland | 43.9 | 9.1% | 51.2% | 936 | 4.9 miles |
| Whitworth Park Academy | 50.4 | 8.9% | 39.3% | 996 | 5.1 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)
- 37.78%
- English as an additional language
- 4.1%
- Overall absence
- 8.09%
- Persistent absence
- 22.75%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Greenfield Academy1.6 miles
Secondary · Newton Aycliffe
-
UTC South Durham2.2 miles
Secondary · Newton Aycliffe
-
Ferryhill School4.0 miles
Secondary · Ferryhill
-
King James I Academy Bishop Auckland4.9 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
Whitworth Park Academy5.1 miles
Secondary · Spennymoor
Other schools in Newton Aycliffe
- Greenfield Academy Secondary
- UTC South Durham Secondary
- Aycliffe Village Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Byerley Park Primary School Primary
- Heighington Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Francis Horndale CofE Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe Primary
- Stephenson Way Academy and Nursery School Primary
- Sugar Hill Primary School Primary
- Vane Road Primary School Primary
- Woodham Burn Community Primary School and Nursery Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Woodham Academy teach?
- Woodham Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Newton Aycliffe.
- Who is the headteacher of Woodham Academy?
- The headteacher of Woodham Academy is Mr Andrew Bell, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Woodham Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Woodham 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 Woodham Academy?
- Woodham Academy has 1,071 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Woodham Academy full?
- Woodham Academy has capacity for 1,100 pupils and 1,071 on roll (97%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Woodham Academy a faith school?
- No. Woodham Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Woodham Academy a selective school?
- No. Woodham Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Woodham Academy?
- Woodham Academy is part of EDEN LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Woodham Academy have?
- The schools register lists Woodham Academy's special educational needs provision as: PD - Physical Disability. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Woodham Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 47.2 in 2022/23 and 48.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Woodham Academy rank locally?
- Woodham Academy ranked 11th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 70% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 16% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Woodham Academy's absence rate?
- Woodham Academy's overall absence rate is 8.1% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Woodham Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Woodham 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.