School Chooser

Copeland Road Primary School

Primary · ages 2-11MixedAcademy130 pupils Free breakfast clubBishop AucklandCounty Durham
School Chooser Score
3
Well below
similar schools
Likely range 1 to 6
Out of 100. Better than 8% of the 50 schools most like it.
OfstedNo overall gradeLast Ofsted inspection, September 2024
Reached the expected level at 1138%England 63%
Attendance93.6%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families39%Far more than most schools
Places39 spare130 pupils, 169 places
Pupils per teacher16.7School workforce census

Copeland Road Primary School is a converter academy in Bishop Auckland for boys and girls aged 2 to 11. It has 130 pupils and room for 169. About 39 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. We give it 3 out of 100. That puts it well below schools like it, ahead of 8% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2024, no overall grade.

West Auckland, Bishop Auckland, DL14 9JJ01388 832576copelandroadprimary.org.ukMrs Victoria Summerfield headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 24 September 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Requires improvement
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Requires improvement
Early years
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

21 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. These are the results of Copeland Road Primary School, the school this one replaced.

Reached the expected level at 1138%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level5%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score102.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score98.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 72%72%20172018: 60%60%20182019: 45%45%20192023: 20%20%20232024: 42%42%20242025: 38%38%2025
Since 2017: -34%
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure2025†2024†2023†2019†2018†2017†County DurhamEngland
Pupils tested212615222018
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths38%42%20%45%60%72%62%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths5%4%0%0%0%11%8%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score102.099.099.0100.0104.0105.0105.2105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score98.097.096.0102.0100.0105.0104.1104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score102.099.098.0101.0101.0106.0104.9105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard43%62%40%55%75%89%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard57%46%40%73%70%78%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)71%69%67%86%70%78%
Reading progressReading progress score-4.0-3.6+0.9+4.2
Maths progressMaths progress score-6.1-1.6-1.9+3.6
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged43%33%33%43%71%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged36%50%11%47%73%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

† These results are for Copeland Road Primary School, the school this one replaced in January 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 1 of the 3 gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
43%36%
Gap 7 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
30%45%
Gap 15 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
14%5%
Gap 9 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

Plenty of spare places137 pupils for 189 places, 2024/25
73% full

52 places were empty (28% of the total), so almost everyone who applies gets in.

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 a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll130Census January 2026
Places16977% full
Pupils from low-income families39%39% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English2%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support19%25 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan5%6 pupils with a plan
Average class size18.67 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)36%£71,300 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls67 / 63
White British pupils95%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 12.5 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 19.8 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (14), Moderate learning difficulty (7), language and communications needs (7), Autistic spectrum disorder (1), Physical disability (1), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census20262025
Pupils on roll130139
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals39%36%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language2%1%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support17%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans3%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 93.6% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance93.6%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school18.5%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils4.32024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission1.9%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/24†2022/23†2021/22†2020/21†2018/19†England
Sessions missedOverall absence6.4%6.5%6.9%6.4%4.2%5.1%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence4.5%4.0%4.6%4.4%3.1%4.0%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence1.9%2.5%2.3%2.0%1.0%1.0%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence18.5%19.8%25.4%18.0%9.4%14.3%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate4.3
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions0

† These attendance figures are for Copeland Road Primary School, the school this one replaced in January 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers7.8full-time equivalent, 9 people
Pupils per teacher16.7Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants5.8full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£46,899
Vacancies0

Money

From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Money in reserve32%A lot put by: £237k, £1,709 per pupil
Money in against money out+£33kit took in more than it spent this year

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

Crimes within 500 m18212 months to June 2026, mostly anti-social behaviour
Local crime rate179 per 1,000 people97% higher than the England average
Typical house price£143,000County Durham
Nearest bus stop20 mCopeland Rd-Robson Rd, 12 stops within 500 m

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.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Oakley Cross Primary School and NurseryCouncil370 m161Good 202324Compare
St Helen Auckland Community Primary SchoolAcademy0.8 miles203Not inspected7Compare
Toft Hill Primary SchoolCouncil1.6 miles203No overall grade 202480Compare
Ramshaw Primary SchoolCouncil1.6 miles54Good 202429Compare
Evenwood Church of England Primary SchoolAcademy1.6 miles97Not inspected72Compare
Woodhouse Primary AcademyAcademy1.8 miles176Requires improvement 20230Compare
St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Bishop AucklandAcademy2.1 miles219Not inspected17Compare
Escomb Primary SchoolCouncil2.1 miles160Report card 202640Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Copeland Road Primary School with the 49 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 49 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats8%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
Near the bottom of its group. Its score of 3 is 18 points below the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 0 · middle 20 · highest 91100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 49 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Copeland Road Primary School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Oakley Cross Primary School and NurseryCouncil370 m161Good 202324Compare
St Andrew's AcademyAcademy2.8 miles191Good 201917Compare
St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, CrookAcademy6.1 miles117Not inspected31Compare
Kelloe Primary SchoolAcademy12.1 miles124Not inspected91Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 3 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 3% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 1 to 6. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years0%no data
Ofsted inspection20%well below
-0.97
Ofsted grade, 2.0 years old
Progress pupils make0%no data
Direction of travel over five years0%no data
Attendance and behaviour10%below
-0.25
2024/25; 130 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils0%no data
What parents say0%no data

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is Copeland Road Primary School a good school?

The figures are weak. Copeland Road Primary School scores 3 out of 100. That is well below schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 8% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 1 to 6, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

What is Copeland Road Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Copeland Road Primary School not judged at its last full inspection on 24 September 2024.

How good are Copeland Road Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 38% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 5% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Copeland Road Primary School have?

130 pupils aged 2 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 169 places, so it is 77% full.

Is Copeland Road Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably not. 52 places were empty in 2024/25 (28% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Copeland Road Primary School?

Pupils were in school 93.6% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 18% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Copeland Road Primary School?

The average class had 18.6 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.

Does Copeland Road Primary School have a breakfast club?

Yes. It is on the government's free breakfast club programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
West Auckland, Bishop Auckland, DL14 9JJ
Telephone
01388 832576
Website
copelandroadprimary.org.uk
Headteacher
Mrs Victoria Summerfield
Free breakfast club
Yes: on the government's programme, so every pupil can have a free half-hour breakfast club before school (listed since September 2026).
Type of school
Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
Phase
Primary school, ages 2-11
Gender
Mixed
Multi-academy trust
Advance Learning Partnership (23 schools)
Local authority
County Durham
Ward
West Auckland
Constituency
Bishop Auckland
Setting
Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Opened
1 January 2025 (academy converter)
URN
151457 · LAESTAB 8402704 · UKPRN 10097000
Formerly
Copeland Road Primary School

Where these figures come from