Tanfield School - The School Companion

Tanfield School

County Durham · DH9 8AY

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 739 pupils, 32.1% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 13.5% on SEN support Behaviour 6.6% absence rate Staff 11.8% turnover Financials £8,212 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Tanfield School

General Information

Address: Tanfield Lea Road, Stanley, DH9 8AY – View on map
Phone: 01207232881
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr Steven Clough
Age range: 11-16 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 201 families put it first for 149 places – 13 for every 10 places. 72% 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 12 · 2024 15 · 2025 12 · 2026 13
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

739 pupils out of 690 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 237
% eligible for free school meals: 32.1%
Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the County Durham average)
English as an additional language: 3% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 11.8% a year (County Durham 13.4%, typical in England 15.5%)
Where they went: about 32% moved to another school, 68% 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.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across County Durham: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 19 (0.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 32 (1.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 4 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary 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: 6.6%
Persistently absent pupils: 18.5%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 13.5%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.3%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Moderate learning difficulty: 33 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 29 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 23 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 7 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 4 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 18 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 3 pupils
Physical disability: 3 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

No overall grade given 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Attainment 8 score: 57.5
Compared with the area: 11.8 points above the County Durham average (45.7)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well above (+13.3 points against an expected 44.2)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 86% (County Durham 64%, England 65%) Improving
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolCounty Durham averageEngland↗ Improving Up 2.8 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 11.8 points above the County Durham average (45.7).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

2nd of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for Attainment 8

#1St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham57.7
#2Tanfield School57.5
#3Durham Johnston Comprehensive School55.2
#4Belmont Community School53.4

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham57.7
#2Tanfield School57.5
#3Durham Johnston Comprehensive School55.2
#4Belmont Community School53.4
#5The Academy at Shotton Hall52.2
#6Easington Academy51.8
#7Sedgefield Community College51.5
#8Whitworth Park Academy50.4
#9Teesdale School and Sixth Form49.6
#10Hermitage Academy49.1
#11Woodham Academy48.2
#12Wellfield School47.8
#13Parkside Academy46.9
#14Park View School46.4
#15St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College46.4
#16Seaham High School45.8
#17Staindrop Academy45.6
#18Framwellgate School Durham45.2
#19St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Lanchester44.9
#20Wolsingham School44.7
#21St Bede's Catholic School and Byron Sixth Form College44.5
#22Consett Academy44.2
#23King James I Academy Bishop Auckland43.9
#24Ferryhill School41.5
#25Dene Academy41.4
#26North Durham Academy39.8
#27Bishop Barrington Academy39.4
#28UTC South Durham39.2
#29Durham Academy37.4
#30Greenfield Academy35.7

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 85.0%
Went into further education: 81.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Science Double Award
Geography
History
French Language
Photography
Media Studies
Art & Design
Religious Studies
Chemistry (General)
Biology
Physics (General)
Arabic

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,212 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

15th of 30 secondary schools in County Durham for spending per pupil

#13North Durham Academy£8,395
#14Woodham Academy£8,393
#15Tanfield School£8,212
#16Wolsingham School£8,208
#17Framwellgate School Durham£8,126

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1UTC South Durham£9,922
#2Bishop Barrington Academy£9,818
#3Dene Academy£9,699
#4Ferryhill School£9,523
#5King James I Academy Bishop Auckland£9,477
#6Durham Academy£9,295
#7Greenfield Academy£8,788
#8Parkside Academy£8,738
#9Sedgefield Community College£8,713
#10Belmont Community School£8,503
#11Staindrop Academy£8,438
#12The Academy at Shotton Hall£8,432
#13North Durham Academy£8,395
#14Woodham Academy£8,393
#15Tanfield School£8,212
#16Wolsingham School£8,208
#17Framwellgate School Durham£8,126
#18St Bede's Catholic School and Byron Sixth Form College£8,112
#19St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Lanchester£8,042
#20St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College£7,973
#21Hermitage Academy£7,965
#22Seaham High School£7,954
#23Easington Academy£7,864
#24Whitworth Park Academy£7,842
#25Wellfield School£7,823
#26Park View School£7,748
#27St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham£7,734
#28Durham Johnston Comprehensive School£7,281
#29Consett Academy£7,237
#30Teesdale School and Sixth Form£7,087

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across County Durham: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered