Wolsingham Primary School

Wolsingham Primary School is a welcoming and nurturing school where pupils achieve well, particularly by the end of key stage 2. The school has many strengths: strong early reading, positive attendance, a well-designed early years curriculum, and effective personal development. Pupils are safe and happy, and disadvantaged pupils achieve well. Safeguarding standards are met, and relationships between staff and pupils are positive.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well by the end of key stage 2, with good progress from starting points
• Early reading is well taught, and children learn to read quickly and accurately
• Pupils with SEND and those with barriers to learning make good progress
• Attendance is highly positive, with clear expectations and timely support for families
• Pupils are polite, collaborate well, and know the routines of the school day
• Early years provision is well designed, with strong transition arrangements and tailored support
• The personal development programme is comprehensive, developing citizenship and aspirations
• Pupils feel safe and know how to keep themselves safe online and in the community
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve well, with a well-managed pupil premium strategy
• Staff are happy, and their workload and wellbeing are well considered
• Governors are aware of their statutory duties and provide appropriate support and challenge

Areas for Improvement

• Leaders do not have an accurate picture of curriculum and teaching quality in some areas
• In mixed-aged classes, curriculum sequencing for English and mathematics lacks sufficient distinction between year group expectations
• Teachers' assessment checks are inconsistent, and they do not always help pupils build on prior knowledge
• Support plans for pupils with SEND are variable, and in-lesson adaptation is not consistently effective
• Safeguarding incident recording lacks consistent accuracy and detail, limiting strategic oversight
• Behaviour incidents are not routinely recorded, limiting identification of patterns and trends
• Governors are not always provided with accurate information about parental concerns and behaviour
• Quality assurance systems are not sufficiently robust to give leaders a clear understanding of the school's work
• Improvements in curriculum and teaching are not progressing quickly enough
• Uptake of extra-curricular clubs is low
• Some pupils and parents have concerns about behaviour and bullying

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Wolsingham Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at Wolsingham Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Wolsingham Primary School had 17.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 15.3% of pupils at Wolsingham Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.5% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Wolsingham Primary School received £7,205 and spent £7,312 for each of its 156 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £103,000 (£662 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bishop Auckland · County Durham local authority: places and applications

What is Wolsingham Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Wolsingham Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Wolsingham Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Wolsingham Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Wolsingham Primary School have?

Wolsingham Primary School has 163 pupils on roll.

What age range does Wolsingham Primary School cover?

Wolsingham Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Wolsingham Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 76% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Wolsingham Primary School?

Wolsingham Primary School is at Upper Town, Wolsingham, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL13 3ET.