Whitworth Park Academy
Whitworth Lane, Spennymoor, DL16 7LN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ADVANCE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mr Stuart Dixon
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Advance Learning Partnership
- Constituency
- Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,300
- Pupils on roll
- 996
- URN
- 145564
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01388824800
About this school
Whitworth Park Academy is a secondary academy in Spennymoor. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 996 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. 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 | 147 | 130 | 148 |
| Attainment 8 score | 48.4 | 47.7 | 50.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.06 -0.29 to +0.18 | -0.01 -0.26 to +0.23 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 44% | 35.4% | 55.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 63% | 56.2% | 70.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 27% | 10% | 5.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 3.8 | 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 Whitworth Park 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 | 48.4 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 47.7 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 50.4 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.5% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 847 |
| 2023/24 | 937 |
| 2024/25 | 986 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Whitworth Park Academy compares
Whitworth Park Academy ranked 8th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 77% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50.4 | 8.9% | 39.3% | 996 | — |
| Ferryhill School | 41.5 | 9.4% | 46.8% | 727 | 1.7 miles |
| Parkside Academy | 46.9 | 11.5% | 39.6% | 833 | 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 | 4.2 miles |
| St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College | 46.4 | 8.5% | 27.1% | 1,229 | 4.3 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)
- 39.25%
- English as an additional language
- 3.8%
- Overall absence
- 8.87%
- Persistent absence
- 27.24%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ferryhill School1.7 miles
Secondary · Ferryhill
-
Parkside Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Crook
-
King James I Academy Bishop Auckland3.3 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
Bishop Barrington Academy4.2 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College4.3 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
Other schools in Spennymoor
- Tudhoe Moor Nursery School Nursery
- Byers Green Primary School Primary
- King Street Primary School Primary
- Kirk Merrington Primary School Primary
- North Park Primary School Primary
- Rosa Street Primary and Nursery Academy Primary
- Springmoor Grange School Primary
- St Charles' Catholic Primary School, Tudhoe Primary
- Tudhoe Colliery Primary School Primary
- The Meadows Academy Academies
- The Oaks Secondary School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does Whitworth Park Academy teach?
- Whitworth Park Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Spennymoor.
- Who is the headteacher of Whitworth Park Academy?
- The headteacher of Whitworth Park Academy is Mr Stuart Dixon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Whitworth Park Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Whitworth Park 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 Whitworth Park Academy?
- Whitworth Park Academy has 996 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Whitworth Park Academy full?
- Whitworth Park Academy has capacity for 1,300 pupils and 996 on roll (77%), 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 Whitworth Park Academy a faith school?
- No. Whitworth Park Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Whitworth Park Academy a selective school?
- No. Whitworth Park Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Whitworth Park Academy?
- Whitworth Park 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 Whitworth Park Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 48.4 in 2022/23 and 50.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Whitworth Park Academy rank locally?
- Whitworth Park Academy ranked 8th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 77% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Whitworth Park Academy's absence rate?
- Whitworth Park Academy's overall absence rate is 8.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Whitworth Park Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Whitworth Park 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 10 July 2026.