Tanfield School
Tanfield Lea Road, Stanley, DH9 8AY
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- EDEN LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Steven Clough
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Eden Learning Trust
- Constituency
- North Durham
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 690
- Pupils on roll
- 739
- URN
- 147894
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01207232881
About this school
Tanfield School is a secondary academy in Stanley. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 739 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- 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 | 144 | 139 | 90 |
| Attainment 8 score | 54.7 | 50.9 | 57.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.66 +0.43 to +0.90 | +0.83 +0.59 to +1.06 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 60% | 59% | 72.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 79% | 70.5% | 85.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 42% | 43.2% | 52.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.7 | 4.4 | 5.0 |
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 Tanfield School 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 | 54.7 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 50.9 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 57.5 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 701 |
| 2023/24 | 710 |
| 2024/25 | 702 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Tanfield School compares
Tanfield School ranked 2nd of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 91% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57.5 | 6.6% | 32.8% | 739 | — |
| North Durham Academy | 39.8 | 12.2% | 52% | 935 | 0.7 miles |
| St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Lanchester | 44.9 | 8.6% | 19.7% | 1,240 | 3.7 miles |
| Whickham School | 53 | 8.1% | 22.6% | 1,690 | 4.5 miles |
| Hermitage Academy | 49.1 | 7.4% | 31.2% | 881 | 4.9 miles |
| Consett Academy | 44.2 | 8.5% | 35.6% | 1,493 | 5.0 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)
- 32.76%
- English as an additional language
- 3.3%
- Overall absence
- 6.57%
- Persistent absence
- 18.47%
Location
Nearby schools
-
North Durham Academy0.7 miles
Secondary · Stanley
-
St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Lanchester3.7 miles
Secondary · Durham
-
Whickham School4.5 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Hermitage Academy4.9 miles
Secondary · Chester le Street
-
Consett Academy5.0 miles
Secondary · Consett
Other schools in Stanley
- North Durham Academy Secondary
- Oxhill Nursery School Nursery
- Annfield Plain Infant School Primary
- Annfield Plain Junior School Primary
- Beamish Primary School Primary
- Bloemfontein Primary School Primary
- Catchgate Primary School Primary
- Collierley Nursery and Primary School Primary
- East Stanley School Primary
- Greenland Community Primary School Primary
- Shield Row Primary School Primary
- South Stanley Infant and Nursery School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Tanfield School teach?
- Tanfield School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Stanley.
- Who is the headteacher of Tanfield School?
- The headteacher of Tanfield School is Mr Steven Clough, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Tanfield School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Tanfield School, 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 Tanfield School?
- Tanfield School has 739 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Tanfield School full?
- Tanfield School has capacity for 690 pupils and 739 on roll (107%), so it is at or above 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 Tanfield School a faith school?
- No. Tanfield School has no designated religious character.
- Is Tanfield School a selective school?
- No. Tanfield School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Tanfield School?
- Tanfield School 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.
- How have Tanfield School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 54.7 in 2022/23 and 57.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Tanfield School rank locally?
- Tanfield School ranked 2nd of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 91% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Tanfield School's absence rate?
- Tanfield School's overall absence rate is 6.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Tanfield School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Tanfield School'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.