Which school has the best GCSE results in County Durham?

On 2025 Attainment 8, St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham tops the table in County Durham with 57.7, against an England average of 46.0. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so compare a school's grade 5+ pass rate and, where published, its Progress 8 before reading the rank as a verdict.

When are the 2026 GCSE results for County Durham schools published?

Pupils receive their results in August, but school-by-school figures come from the DfE performance tables, which publish provisional results in the autumn (usually mid-October) and revised figures early in the new year. This table shows 2025 results, the 2024/25 academic year, and updates when the next release is imported.

What is Attainment 8?

Attainment 8 is the DfE's headline GCSE measure: the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight qualifications, with English and maths counted twice. A score of 50 means pupils averaged roughly a grade 5 across those subjects. No Progress 8 exists for 2025 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020.

Why does a school in County Durham show no GCSE results?

A school has no published figure when it had no Year 11 cohort in the year (a new school, or one that opened with younger year groups), when it converted to an academy and the DfE published results under its previous identity, or when it is independent and its pupils sat IGCSE, Pre-U or IB qualifications that the DfE tables do not count. Independent schools with a published figure are listed separately and unranked for that reason.

County Durham GCSE results 2025: secondary school league table

30 state secondary schools in County Durham ranked on their 2025 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2024/25 academic year, the latest DfE has published for every school), with grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc average point score and cohort size for each school against the England average. 5 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

Local Authority 30 state secondary schools 2024/25 results

Secondary schools in County Durham ranked on Attainment 8

30 of 30 schools have published 2025 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2024/25.

Secondary schools in County Durham ranked on Attainment 8, 2025 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.0	45%	65%	4.09	–
1	St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham Durham · Academy converter	57.7	59%	80%	5.01	225
2	Tanfield School Stanley · Academy sponsor led	57.5	72%	86%	4.95	90
3	Durham Johnston Comprehensive School Durham · Community school	55.2	62%	79%	4.77	264
4	Belmont Community School Durham · Community school	53.4	59%	72%	5.03	142
5	The Academy at Shotton Hall Peterlee · Academy converter	52.2	53%	77%	4.52	194
6	Easington Academy Peterlee · Academy converter	51.8	57%	74%	4.58	134
7	Sedgefield Community College Stockton-on-Tees · Academy converter	51.5	50%	77%	4.59	193
8	Whitworth Park Academy Spennymoor · Academy sponsor led	50.4	55%	70%	3.95	148
9	Teesdale School and Sixth Form Barnard Castle · Academy sponsor led	49.6	49%	72%	4.52	120
10	Hermitage Academy Chester le Street · Academy converter	49.1	43%	70%	4.39	153
11	Woodham Academy Newton Aycliffe · Academy converter	48.2	46%	66%	4.35	171
12	Wellfield School Wingate · Academy converter	47.8	52%	67%	3.83	164
13	Parkside Academy Crook · Academy converter	46.9	56%	69%	4.01	174
14=	Park View School Chester le Street · Academy converter	46.4	40%	64%	3.78	234
14=	St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College Bishop Auckland · Academy converter	46.4	41%	69%	3.77	206
16	Seaham High School Seaham · Academy converter	45.8	40%	59%	3.78	219
17	Staindrop Academy Darlington · Academy sponsor led	45.6	39%	65%	3.64	78
18	Framwellgate School Durham Durham · Academy converter	45.2	40%	60%	4.08	207
19	St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Lanchester Durham · Academy converter	44.9	42%	69%	4.07	224
20	Wolsingham School Bishop Auckland · Academy converter	44.7	39%	58%	3.85	130
21	St Bede's Catholic School and Byron Sixth Form College Peterlee · Academy converter	44.5	42%	61%	3.92	152
22	Consett Academy Consett · Academy sponsor led	44.2	44%	62%	3.80	252
23	King James I Academy Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland · Academy converter	43.9	29%	59%	3.53	143
24	Ferryhill School Ferryhill · Academy converter	41.5	25%	52%	3.21	125
25	Dene Academy Peterlee · Academy converter	41.4	33%	52%	3.40	96
26	North Durham Academy Stanley · Academy sponsor led	39.8	32%	51%	3.21	180
27	Bishop Barrington Academy Bishop Auckland · Academy converter	39.4	24%	50%	3.12	128
28	UTC South Durham Newton Aycliffe · University technical college	39.2	29%	50%	2.88	141
29	Durham Academy Durham · Academy converter	37.4	22%	44%	3.11	50
30	Greenfield Academy Newton Aycliffe · Academy converter	35.7	30%	47%	2.95	112

Schools with the same Attainment 8 score share a rank (shown as "=").

Independent schools in County Durham with published GCSE results

Listed as published, not ranked. The DfE tables count only reformed GCSEs, so a school whose pupils sit IGCSE, Pre-U or the IB reports a lower figure than its results merit, or none at all. Compare independent schools on their own published examination results and inspection reports.

School	Attainment 8 (as published)	Grade 5+ English & maths	Pupils
Barnard Castle School Barnard Castle · Other independent school	43.0	1%	79
Delta Independent School Consett · Other independent school	3.9	0%	20
Durham Cathedral Schools Foundation Other independent school	31.6	0%	76
Durham High School Other independent school	51.7	0%	27
The Independent Grammar School:Durham Esh Winning · Other independent school	10.9	0%	16

How to read this table

Attainment 8 is the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight GCSE subjects: English and maths (double-weighted), three EBacc subjects (sciences, computing, history, geography, languages) and three further approved qualifications. The DfE publishes it for every state school; the England average for 2025 was 46.0.

Grade 5+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching a "strong pass" in both; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". EBacc APS is the average point score across the English Baccalaureate subjects, including pupils who did not enter them.

Progress 8 is not shown: the DfE published no Progress 8 for 2025 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020, the baseline it is measured from, and the same applies to 2026. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so a selective school will usually top an attainment-only table.

Ranks are shared where scores tie. Schools are ranked here on published results alone; our composite score, which also weighs Ofsted inspection, progress and attendance, orders the same schools on the best secondary schools page.

See the best secondary schools in County Durham on our composite score

County Durham GCSE results 2025: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in County Durham ranked on Attainment 8

Independent schools in County Durham with published GCSE results

More about schools in County Durham

County Durham GCSE results: common questions