Hermitage Academy
Waldridge Lane, Chester le Street, DH2 3AD
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- NORTH EAST LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lindsay Maughan
- Sponsor
- North East Learning Trust
- Constituency
- North Durham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 881
- URN
- 147531
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
About this school
Hermitage Academy is a secondary academy in Chester le Street. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 881 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
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 197 | 183 | 153 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.1 | 48.0 | 49.1 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.22 -0.42 to -0.02 | +0.12 -0.08 to +0.33 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 42% | 48.6% | 43.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 69.9% | 69.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 26% | 63.9% | 64.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.8 | 4.4 | 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 Hermitage 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 | 46.1 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 48 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 49.1 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,041 |
| 2023/24 | 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 932 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Hermitage Academy compares
Hermitage Academy ranked 10th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49.1 | 7.4% | 31.2% | 881 | — |
| Park View School | 46.4 | 7.3% | 24.2% | 1,631 | 0.9 miles |
| Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy | 46.6 | 7.9% | 32.1% | 1,334 | 3.0 miles |
| Oxclose Community Academy | 41.8 | 11% | 38% | 1,029 | 3.6 miles |
| Framwellgate School Durham | 45.2 | 9.2% | 24.6% | 1,204 | 3.7 miles |
| St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington | 48.9 | 7.8% | 16.9% | 1,527 | 3.8 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)
- 31.23%
- English as an additional language
- 2.4%
- Overall absence
- 7.42%
- Persistent absence
- 20.04%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Park View School0.9 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
-
Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy3.0 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
-
Oxclose Community Academy3.6 miles
Secondary · Washington
-
Framwellgate School Durham3.7 miles
Secondary · Durham
-
St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington3.8 miles
Secondary · Washington
Other schools in Chester le Street
- Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy Secondary
- Park View School Secondary
- Barley Mow Primary School Primary
- Bullion Lane Primary School Primary
- Cestria Primary School Primary
- Chester-Le-Street CofE (Controlled) Primary School Primary
- Lumley Infant and Nursery School Primary
- Lumley Junior School Primary
- Nettlesworth Primary School Primary
- Newker Primary School Primary
- Ouston Primary School Primary
- Pelton Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Hermitage Academy teach?
- Hermitage Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Chester le Street.
- Who is the headteacher of Hermitage Academy?
- The headteacher of Hermitage Academy is Mrs Lindsay Maughan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Hermitage Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Hermitage 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 Hermitage Academy?
- Hermitage Academy has 881 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Hermitage Academy full?
- Hermitage Academy has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 881 on roll (84%), 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 Hermitage Academy a faith school?
- No. Hermitage Academy has no designated religious character.
- Who runs Hermitage Academy?
- Hermitage Academy 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 Hermitage Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.1 in 2022/23 and 49.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Hermitage Academy rank locally?
- Hermitage Academy ranked 10th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 73% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Hermitage Academy's absence rate?
- Hermitage Academy's overall absence rate is 7.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Hermitage Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Hermitage 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.