Wellfield School

About Wellfield School

Wellfield School is a popular choice among local families, with 142 first-preference applications for its 164 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.54. That means for every place available, more than one and a half families put it as their top pick. The school is a mixed, non-denominational secondary for ages 11 to 16, and it doesn't have a sixth form, so pupils move on elsewhere after Year 11. Headteacher Louise Colquhoun leads a school of 914 pupils, which is slightly below its capacity of 1,011. A notable 42% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average, which gives a sense of the community it serves. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2018, the school was rated Good overall, with Good marks for both leadership and management and behaviour and attitudes. The previous inspection in 2014 also rated it Good, so it has held a consistent standard over time.

Academically, Wellfield performs well above the local authority average. Its Progress 8 score of 0.3 means pupils achieve nearly a third of a grade more per subject than pupils nationally with similar starting points. That's a strong result compared with the County Durham average Progress 8 of -0.21, placing the school 6th out of 31 secondary schools in the area. In the North East region, it ranks 20th out of 142, and nationally it sits in the top 27% of schools. The Attainment 8 score is 48.9, and 52.7% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths, compared with 73.1% at grade 4 or above. The EBacc average point score is 4.17, with 21% of pupils entering the EBacc combination of subjects. Progress in maths is particularly strong at 0.4, while English progress is slightly negative at -0.03.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a swimming pool, sports hall, music rooms, and a library. Sports provision is broad, with football, rugby, cricket, netball, gymnastics, and swimming among the options, plus clubs like drama, coding, and Model UN. SEND support covers a wide spectrum, including autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social, emotional and mental health difficulties. With no sixth form, it's a school for families who want their child to stay through GCSEs and then move on to a college or school with post-16 provision. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is The Academy at Shotton Hall, 2.5 km away, so Wellfield offers a strong Good alternative for families who want strong academic progress without the pressure of an Outstanding label.

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