Norman Cornish Academy
Special schoolNorman Cornish Academy is a special school in County Durham, for pupils aged 11 to 16. It had 64 pupils at the school census in January 2026.
Ofsted
Latest inspections as at 30 September 2026Requires improvement (overall), December 2023, before the school changed
- Inspection
- Graded inspection, 5 December 2023
- Overall effectiveness
- Requires improvement
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
Outcomes as Ofsted published them. Report cards (from November 2025) give no overall grade, and grades under different frameworks can’t be compared.
Results
Department for EducationIn 2025/26, the average Attainment 8 score at Norman Cornish Academy was 9.9, against 44.9 in County Durham and 46.2 in England.
0% of its pupils got grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs (46.3% in England).
End of secondary school (KS4, GCSEs)
2025/26, provisional| Measure | This school | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Attainment 8 score | 9.9 | 44.9 | 46.2 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 43% | 46.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 62.5% | 64.8% |
| Pupils at the end of KS4 | 14 | – | – |
- Norman Cornish Academy teaches pupils with needs that most schools' pupils do not have, often in very small year groups, so its results are not a fair comparison with mainstream schools. They are not shown on the map.
- The 2025/26 figures are provisional. The Department for Education publishes revised ones later in the school year.
- Progress 8 cannot be worked out for 2025/26, because the KS2 tests that give the starting point were cancelled in 2020 and 2021.
- Results reflect the pupils a school admits as well as its teaching, and a year's results can move a lot in a small school.
Schools nearby
In a straight line- Whitworth Park AcademySecondary. Good (overall), October 2022. Attainment 8 of 51.3 (2025/26, provisional)410 m
- Rosa Street Primary and Nursery AcademyPrimary. Standards maintained, February 2025. 70% met the expected standard at KS2 (2024/25)650 m
- Middlestone Moor AcademyPrimary. Report card, February 2026: safeguarding met. 71% met the expected standard at KS2 (2024/25)800 m
- The Oaks Secondary SchoolSpecial. School remains Outstanding, May 2023840 m
- King Street Primary SchoolPrimary. Good (overall), January 2024. 53% met the expected standard at KS2 (2024/25)1.3 km
- Springmoor Grange SchoolPrimary. Good (overall), June 2024. 58% met the expected standard at KS2 (2024/25)1.7 km
Admissions and catchments are set by councils and schools, which Open Index doesn’t map. Every school in County Durham
Where these figures come from
- Schools: the school lists of the Department for Education, the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government, with Ofsted’s latest inspections for England.
- Results: the Department for Education’s school performance tables (Open Government Licence).