Burnopfield Primary School

About Burnopfield Primary School

Burnopfield Primary School is one of only eight primary schools in County Durham to hold an Outstanding Ofsted rating, though its own rating is Good. It ranks 9th out of 170 primary schools in the local authority on the key stage 2 expected standard measure, placing it in the top five per cent of schools locally. Among its closest peers in the authority, Montalbo Nursery & Primary School leads the pack, followed by Shincliffe CofE (Controlled) Primary School and Cestria Primary School, all of which sit ahead on the same ranking metric. For families weighing up options in this part of County Durham, Burnopfield is a strong, consistently performing state primary that holds its own against the very best in the area.

Academically, Burnopfield’s key stage 2 results for 2023/24 are well above the local authority average. While the County Durham average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined sits at 62 per cent, Burnopfield achieved 86 per cent. In reading, 90 per cent of pupils met the expected standard and 25 per cent reached the higher standard; in writing, 88 per cent met the expected standard and 33 per cent hit the higher mark; and in maths, 92 per cent met the expected standard, with 24 per cent reaching the higher standard. Average scaled scores in both reading and maths were 106. The school’s Ofsted inspection in May 2022 rated every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — as Good, with the previous 2014 inspection also recording Good overall and an Outstanding for leadership and management.

The school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26, it received 72 applications for 48 places, with 47 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.5. It offers a nursery provision for children from age two and caters for a mixed cohort of 368 pupils against a capacity of 400. Just under a fifth of pupils (19.4 per cent) are eligible for free school meals. Facilities include a library, playing fields, art studios, a sports hall, ICT suite, music rooms, a sensory room and a chapel. The school lists SEND provisions for a range of needs including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health, speech and language communication, visual impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. Clubs include chess, book club, coding, science club and choir, while sports on offer are netball, tennis, athletics and swimming. This is a strong, academically high-performing primary that suits families looking for a state option with good support for additional needs.

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