Bishop Barrington Academy
Woodhouse Lane, Bishop Auckland, DL14 6LA
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- ADVANCE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mr Colin Smith
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Advance Learning Partnership
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Bishop Auckland
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 814
- Pupils on roll
- 599
- URN
- 148706
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01388603307
About this school
Bishop Barrington Academy is a secondary academy in Bishop Auckland. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 599 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
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 | 133 | 139 | 128 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.7 | 41.8 | 39.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.52 -0.77 to -0.28 | -0.27 -0.51 to -0.03 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 32% | 20.1% | 24.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 55% | 47.5% | 50% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 9% | 5.8% | 15.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.1 |
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 Bishop Barrington 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 | 43.7 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.8 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.4 | 38.4 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 12.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 675 |
| 2023/24 | 625 |
| 2024/25 | 602 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bishop Barrington Academy compares
Bishop Barrington Academy ranked 27th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.4 | 11.3% | 51.7% | 599 | — |
| St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College | 46.4 | 8.5% | 27.1% | 1,229 | 0.1 miles |
| King James I Academy Bishop Auckland | 43.9 | 9.1% | 51.2% | 936 | 1.0 miles |
| Parkside Academy | 46.9 | 11.5% | 39.6% | 833 | 3.8 miles |
| Greenfield Academy | 35.7 | 13.2% | 58% | 566 | 4.2 miles |
| Whitworth Park Academy | 50.4 | 8.9% | 39.3% | 996 | 4.2 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)
- 51.66%
- English as an additional language
- 2.7%
- Overall absence
- 11.29%
- Persistent absence
- 36.88%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College0.1 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
King James I Academy Bishop Auckland1.0 miles
Secondary · Bishop Auckland
-
Parkside Academy3.8 miles
Secondary · Crook
-
Greenfield Academy4.2 miles
Secondary · Newton Aycliffe
-
Whitworth Park Academy4.2 miles
Secondary · Spennymoor
Other schools in Bishop Auckland
- King James I Academy Bishop Auckland Secondary
- St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College Secondary
- Wolsingham School Secondary
- Aclet Close Nursery School Nursery
- Etherley Lane Nursery School Nursery
- Blessed John Duckett Catholic Primary School, Tow Law Primary
- Butterknowle Primary School Primary
- Cockfield Primary School Primary
- Cockton Hill Infant School Primary
- Cockton Hill Junior School Primary
- Copeland Road Primary School Primary
- Escomb Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Bishop Barrington Academy teach?
- Bishop Barrington Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Bishop Auckland.
- Who is the headteacher of Bishop Barrington Academy?
- The headteacher of Bishop Barrington Academy is Mr Colin Smith, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Bishop Barrington Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bishop Barrington 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 Bishop Barrington Academy?
- Bishop Barrington Academy has 599 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Bishop Barrington Academy full?
- Bishop Barrington Academy has capacity for 814 pupils and 599 on roll (74%), 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 Bishop Barrington Academy a faith school?
- No. Bishop Barrington Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Bishop Barrington Academy a selective school?
- No. Bishop Barrington Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Bishop Barrington Academy?
- Bishop Barrington 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.
- What SEN provision does Bishop Barrington Academy have?
- The schools register lists Bishop Barrington Academy's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Bishop Barrington Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.7 in 2022/23 and 39.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bishop Barrington Academy rank locally?
- Bishop Barrington Academy ranked 27th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 36% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bishop Barrington Academy's absence rate?
- Bishop Barrington Academy's overall absence rate is 11.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bishop Barrington Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bishop Barrington 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.