St Oswald's Church of England Aided Primary and Nursery School
General Information
- Address: Church Street, Durham, DH1 3DQ – View on map
- Phone: 01913868029
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Donna Wilson-Smith
- Age range: 2-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 27 families put it first for 20 places – 14 for every 10 places. 74% of them were offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 13 · 2024 10 · 2025 15 · 2026 14
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Church of England
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 12
- % eligible for free school meals: 8.8%
- Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 23% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 8.2% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 100% moved to another school, 0% 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: 4.2%
- Persistently absent pupils: 5.9%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 11.7%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.5%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 4 pupils
- Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Severe learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Multi-sensory impairment: 2 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2022 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 74% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 5% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 12 percentage points above the County Durham average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (3-year average 80% against an expected 67%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 80%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 79% · Writing 74% · Maths 79% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 79%
- Average test scores: reading 107, maths 108
- Based on: 19 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 38th of 184 junior and primary schools in the area
- =38Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School74%
- =38South Stanley Junior School74%
- =38St Oswald's Church of England Aided Primary and Nursery School74%
- =38Toft Hill Primary School74%
- =44Belmont CofE (Controlled) Primary School73%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
107th of 141 primary schools in County Durham for Ofsted rating
- #105St Marys Catholic Primary School, WingateGood
- #106St Michael's Catholic Primary School, Esh VillageGood
- #107St Oswald's Church of England Aided Primary and Nursery SchoolGood
- #108St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, DiptonGood
- #109St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Langley MoorGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £8,764 (2024-25)
59th of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #57Castleside Primary School£8,844
- #58Cassop Primary School£8,780
- #59St Oswald's Church of England Aided Primary and Nursery School£8,764
- #60Oakley Cross Primary School and Nursery£8,745
- #61Moorside Primary Academy£8,713
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)