The Woodlands
The Woodlands is a pupil referral unit in Ferryhill for boys and girls aged 6 to 16. It has 330 pupils, 230 more than it has places for. About 81 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England.
Broom Road, Ferryhill, DL17 8AN01740 656040thewoodlands.durham.sch.ukMrs Lesley Candler headteacherAll details
Ofsted
Ofsted hasn't published an inspection for this school yet.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
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: emotional and mental health (83), Autistic spectrum disorder (9), language and communications needs (8), Moderate learning difficulty (2).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 330 | 228 | 225 | 126 | 154 | 163 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 81% | 77% | 77% | 69% | 63% | 62% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 12% | 23% | 32% | 22% | 19% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 63 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 40%, compared with 50% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 43% | 41% | 46% |
| Education | 33% | 29% | 40% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Work | 10% | 12% | 6% |
| Not in education, work or training | 37% | 35% | 30% |
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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broom Cottages Primary & Nursery School | Council | 0 m | 246 | Good 2022 | 6 | Compare |
| Cleves Cross Primary and Nursery School Academy | Academy | 570 m | 248 | No overall grade 2024 | 78 | Compare |
| Dean Bank Primary and Nursery School | Council | 820 m | 181 | Requires improvement 2024 | 5 | Compare |
| Ferryhill Station Primary School | Council | 1.1 miles | 59 | Good 2022 | 65 | Compare |
| Ferryhill School | Academy | 1.2 miles | 727 | Good 2022 | 17 | Compare |
| Aycliffe Secure Centre | Secure units | 1.5 miles | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| West Cornforth Primary School | Council | 1.6 miles | 251 | No overall grade 2025 | 54 | Compare |
| Tudhoe Moor Nursery School | Local authority nursery school | 1.8 miles | 91 | Good 2024 | – | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Woodlands a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score The Woodlands yet.
How many pupils does The Woodlands have?
330 pupils aged 6 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 100 places, so it is 330% full.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Broom Road, Ferryhill, DL17 8AN
- Telephone
- 01740 656040
- Website
- www.thewoodlands.durham.sch.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lesley Candler
- Type of school
- Pupil referral unit (Pupil referral unit, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 6-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Ward
- Ferryhill
- Constituency
- Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 April 1994
- URN
- 113992 · LAESTAB 8401100 · UKPRN 10016506
- Formerly
- Aykley Heads Centre
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.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- 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.