Shincliffe CofE (Controlled) Primary School

About Shincliffe CofE (Controlled) Primary School

If you’re a parent weighing up Shincliffe CofE Primary, the numbers suggest a school that local families are keen to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 49 applications for 28 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.75. Of those, 26 were first-preference applications, and 26 first-preference offers were made, meaning every family who put it first got a spot, but demand still outstripped supply. On the parent-experience front, the most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022 rated behaviour and attitudes as Outstanding, which often correlates with how parents feel about the day-to-day atmosphere. The school is a Church of England state primary for mixed pupils aged 4 to 11, with 196 pupils on roll against a capacity of 215, so there’s a little breathing room but not much. Headteacher Philip Rumbles leads a school where just 7.7 per cent of pupils qualify for free school meals, a figure well below the national average, hinting at a relatively affluent catchment.

Academically, Shincliffe is a strong performer in County Durham. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 93 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a local authority average of 62 per cent. That places the school second out of 170 primary schools in the county, putting it in the top five per cent nationally. The average scaled scores back this up: 111 in reading and 109 in maths, both comfortably above the national benchmark of 100. At the higher standard, 27 per cent of pupils achieved the higher benchmark across all three subjects, with 63 per cent hitting it in reading alone. Progress scores aren’t published for this cohort, so it’s hard to say how much value the school adds relative to starting points, but the raw outcomes are clearly among the best in the region.

The school offers a solid range of facilities, including a library, sports hall, playing fields, outdoor playground, dining hall and a chapel, reflecting its Church of England foundation. Sports provision covers swimming, gymnastics, cricket, football and dance, while clubs include art, gardening and coding. SEND support is listed for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, speech and language needs, and autistic spectrum disorder, though the school’s Ofsted report doesn’t detail how these are delivered. With an oversubscription ratio of 1.75, it’s a school that requires a realistic first-choice application. It’s best suited to families who prioritise strong academic outcomes in a faith-based setting, and who are comfortable with a school that’s popular enough to be selective but not so oversubscribed that a first-preference place is a long shot.

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