St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School

St Mary’s Cockerton Church of England Primary School demonstrates a good overall performance with a strong focus on creating a welcoming and nurturing atmosphere for its pupils. The school has made significant improvements to its curriculum and has been proactive in helping pupils build knowledge and skills, particularly in English and mathematics. The trustees and school leaders collaborate effectively to enhance educational offerings, ensuring that pupils progress well in most subjects. Despite the positive environment and curriculum improvements, there are notable areas requiring attention, particularly concerning the support provided to pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and the consistency in teaching across some foundation subjects.

Strengths

• Welcoming and warm atmosphere for pupils.
• Strong curriculum improvements, especially in English and mathematics.
• Proactive support from trustees in challenging and assisting leaders.
• Effective teaching strategies that engage students.
• Pupils enjoy a variety of subjects and extracurricular activities.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent support for pupils with SEND, particularly those with an EHC plan.
• Some gaps in knowledge retention among pupils in foundation subjects.
• Lack of clarity on knowledge progression in certain subjects, including PSHE.
• Record-keeping in safeguarding is not precise or accurate.

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 St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.7% 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, 1.5% of pupils at St Mary's Cockerton Church of England 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 St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School had 22.5 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, 13.0% of pupils at St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.9% 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 2024–25 St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School received £6,994 and spent £7,043 for each of its 204 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £6,000 (£30 per pupil).

Across all 12 schools of Melrose Learning Trust, income was £6,415 and spending £6,505 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Darlington · Darlington local authority: places and applications

St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School is part of Melrose Learning Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Abbey Junior School Darlington
• Abbey Infants' School Darlington
• High Coniscliffe CofE Primary School Darlington
• Cleves Cross Primary and Nursery School Academy Ferryhill
• Rosa Street Primary and Nursery Academy Spennymoor
• Wynyard Church of England Primary School Wynyard
• Prior's Mill CofE Primary School Billingham
• Greatham CofE Primary School Hartlepool
• Hutton Henry CofE (Controlled) Primary School Hartlepool
• St Hild's College Church of England Primary School, Durham Durham

What is St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2023.

When was St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School was last inspected in March 2023.

How many pupils does St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School have?

St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School has 216 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School cover?

St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 37% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School?

St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School is at Newton Lane, Cockerton, Darlington, County Durham, DL3 9EX.