Teesdale School and Sixth Form
Prospect Place, Barnard Castle, DL12 8HH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- NORTH EAST LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Hijab Zaheer
- Sponsor
- North East Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Bishop Auckland
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 968
- Pupils on roll
- 684
- URN
- 144496
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01833638166
About this school
Teesdale School and Sixth Form is a secondary academy in Barnard Castle. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 684 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Teesdale School and Sixth Form, 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
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 5 March 2025, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 | 106 | 123 | 120 |
| Attainment 8 score | 52.1 | 53.4 | 49.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.21 -0.06 to +0.48 | +0.27 +0.02 to +0.53 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 51% | 61% | 49.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 78% | 80.5% | 71.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 74% | 58.5% | 63.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.6 | 4.9 | 4.5 |
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 Teesdale School and Sixth Form 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 | 52.1 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 53.4 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.6 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 720 |
| 2023/24 | 727 |
| 2024/25 | 691 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Teesdale School and Sixth Form compares
Teesdale School and Sixth Form ranked 9th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 74% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.6 | 7.9% | 18.5% | 684 | — |
| Staindrop Academy | 45.6 | 10.1% | 30.5% | 504 | 4.5 miles |
| St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College | 46.4 | 8.5% | 27.1% | 1,229 | 11.3 miles |
| Bishop Barrington Academy | 39.4 | 11.3% | 51.7% | 599 | 11.3 miles |
| King James I Academy Bishop Auckland | 43.9 | 9.1% | 51.2% | 936 | 12.3 miles |
| St Francis Xavier School - a Joint Catholic and Church of England Voluntary Academy | 54.6 | 4.2% | 12.4% | 611 | 12.5 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)
- 18.52%
- English as an additional language
- 2%
- Overall absence
- 7.93%
- Persistent absence
- 23.4%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Staindrop Academy4.5 miles
Secondary · Darlington
-
St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College11.3 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
Bishop Barrington Academy11.3 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
King James I Academy Bishop Auckland12.3 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
St Francis Xavier School - a Joint Catholic and Church of England Voluntary Academy12.5 miles
Secondary · Richmond
Other schools in Barnard Castle
- Bowes Hutchinson's CofE (Aided) School Primary
- Cotherstone Primary School Primary
- Green Lane Church of England Primary School Primary
- Middleton-In-Teesdale Academy Primary
- Montalbo Nursery & Primary School Primary
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Barnard Castle Primary
- Barnard Castle School Independent schools
Common questions
- What ages does Teesdale School and Sixth Form teach?
- Teesdale School and Sixth Form teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Barnard Castle.
- Who is the headteacher of Teesdale School and Sixth Form?
- The headteacher of Teesdale School and Sixth Form is Mr Hijab Zaheer, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Teesdale School and Sixth Form been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Teesdale School and Sixth Form, 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 Teesdale School and Sixth Form?
- Teesdale School and Sixth Form has 684 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Teesdale School and Sixth Form full?
- Teesdale School and Sixth Form has capacity for 968 pupils and 684 on roll (71%), 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 Teesdale School and Sixth Form a faith school?
- No. Teesdale School and Sixth Form has no designated religious character.
- Is Teesdale School and Sixth Form part of an academy trust?
- Teesdale School and Sixth Form is part of NORTH EAST LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Teesdale School and Sixth Form's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 52.1 in 2022/23 and 49.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Teesdale School and Sixth Form compare with other schools in County Durham?
- Teesdale School and Sixth Form ranked 9th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 74% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Teesdale School and Sixth Form's absence rate?
- Teesdale School and Sixth Form's overall absence rate is 7.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Teesdale School and Sixth Form's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Teesdale School and Sixth Form'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 10 July 2026.