Cockton Hill Infant School
Cockton Hill Infant School is a council school in Bishop Auckland for boys and girls aged 2 to 7. It has 146 pupils and room for 180. About 50 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England.
McIntyre Terrace, Cockton Hill, Bishop Auckland, DL14 6HW01388 604627cocktonhill-inf.durham.sch.ukMr Thomas Cuthbertson headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
Results
No published results yet for this school.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Fewer than one place in twenty is empty, so in most years more families apply than there are places. Living close by, or already having a child here, makes a real difference. Pupil numbers have grown by 18% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to County Durham council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (25), Autistic spectrum disorder (3), emotional and mental health (3), Multi-sensory impairment (2), Physical disability (1), Specific learning difficulty (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 146 | 170 | 164 | 164 | 147 | 133 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 50% | 51% | 51% | 49% | 52% | 45% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 11% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 8% | 2% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 18% | 15% | 6% | 5% | 9% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% | 0% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.4% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 5.6% | 5.6% | 7.1% | 8.5% | 3.6% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 3.6% | 3.7% | 5.0% | 6.8% | 2.4% | 3.4% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.1% | 1.7% | 1.2% | 1.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 16.4% | 16.8% | 20.9% | 38.7% | 8.3% | 9.6% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cockton Hill Junior School | Council | 0 m | 187 | Report card 2026 | 4 | Compare |
| St Andrew's Academy | Academy | 470 m | 191 | Good 2019 | 17 | Compare |
| St Anne's CofE Primary School | Church of England | 730 m | 238 | Not inspected | 71 | Compare |
| Etherley Lane Primary School | Council | 980 m | 190 | Good 2020 | 17 | Compare |
| St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Bishop Auckland | Academy | 990 m | 219 | Not inspected | 17 | Compare |
| Woodhouse Primary Academy | Academy | 0.9 miles | 176 | Requires improvement 2023 | 0 | Compare |
| Prince Bishops Community Primary School | Academy | 1.0 miles | 210 | Good 2024 | – | Compare |
| Thornhill Primary School | Council | 1.5 miles | 205 | Outstanding 2023 | 97 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Cockton Hill Infant School a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score Cockton Hill Infant School yet.
How many pupils does Cockton Hill Infant School have?
146 pupils aged 2 to 7 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 180 places, so it is 81% full.
Is Cockton Hill Infant School oversubscribed?
Often. Fewer than one place in twenty was empty in 2024/25, so popular year groups fill up.
What is attendance like at Cockton Hill Infant School?
Pupils were in school 94.4% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 16% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at Cockton Hill Infant School?
The average class had 23.0 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- McIntyre Terrace, Cockton Hill, Bishop Auckland, DL14 6HW
- Telephone
- 01388 604627
- Website
- www.cocktonhill-inf.durham.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Thomas Cuthbertson
- Type of school
- Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Primary school, ages 2-7, with nursery
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Ward
- Bishop Auckland
- Constituency
- Bishop Auckland
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 114111 · LAESTAB 8402434 · UKPRN 10076464
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.