St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Bishop Auckland
General Information
- Address: Murphy Crescent, Bishop Auckland, DL14 6QH – View on map
- Phone: 01388603451
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Miss Joanne Sands
- Age range: 3-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 35 families put it first for 30 places – 12 for every 10 places. 86% 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 9 · 2024 9 · 2025 10 · 2026 12
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Roman Catholic
- Nursery provision: Yes
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 101
- % eligible for free school meals: 49.8%
- Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (more mixed than the County Durham average)
- English as an additional language: 6% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 3.4% a year (County Durham 13.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 0% moved to another school, 100% 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: 6.9%
- Persistently absent pupils: 17.6%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 19.6%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.8%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Moderate learning difficulty: 19 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 9 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 3 pupils
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 2 pupils
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
No overall grade given 2025 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 40% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 7% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 22 percentage points below the County Durham average (62%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 53% against an expected 56%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 53%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 50% · Writing 70% · Maths 70% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 53%
- Average test scores: reading 102, maths 103
- Based on: 30 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
- #167Howden-le-Wear Primary School41%
- =168Cotherstone Primary School40%
- =168St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Bishop Auckland40%
- =170Edmondsley Primary Academy38%
- =170The Grove Primary School38%
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £7,270 (2024-25)
117th of 189 primary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil
- #115Howletch Lane Primary School£7,352
- #116The Grove Primary School£7,306
- #117St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School, Bishop Auckland£7,270
- #118Sacriston Academy£7,224
- #119Witton Gilbert Primary School£7,198
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)