Cotherstone Primary School
General Information
- Address: Cotherstone, Barnard Castle, DL12 9QB – View on map
- Phone: 01833650491
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Julie Gibson
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 10 families put it first for 11 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 12
- % eligible for free school meals: 19.7%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 0% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 30.3% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 50% moved to another school, 50% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across County Durham: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 12 (0.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 5 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 3 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in County Durham, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 7.3%
- Persistently absent pupils: 21.2%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 18.2%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.5%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Specific learning difficulty: 3 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 3 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Other difficulty or disability: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Severe learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2024 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 40% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 10% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 22 percentage points below the County Durham average (62%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 33%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 50% · Writing 60% · Maths 50% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 70%
- Average test scores: reading 101, maths 100
- Based on: 10 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: joint 168th of 184 junior and primary schools in the area
- #166Hesleden Primary School42%
- #167Howden-le-Wear Primary School41%
- =168Cotherstone Primary School40%
- =168St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Bishop Auckland40%
- =170Edmondsley Primary Academy38%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
28th of 141 primary schools in County Durham for Ofsted rating
- #26Chilton AcademyGood
- #27Cockfield Primary SchoolGood
- #28Cotherstone Primary SchoolGood
- #29Cotsford Primary SchoolGood
- #30Crook Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £9,729 (2024-25)
35th of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #33Ludworth Primary School£9,794
- #34St Pius Xth Catholic Primary School, Consett£9,762
- #35Cotherstone Primary School£9,729
- #36St Marys Catholic Primary School, Wingate£9,716
- #37Fishburn Primary School£9,715
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)