1
Kirk Merrington Primary School
Primary • Community school • Spennymoor
Outstanding
Best Primary schools in County Durham
Top 20 by latest Ofsted graded judgements
(showing top 10 – Go Pro for full list)
Quick compare:
Top 3 primary schools in County Durham
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These rankings cover primary schools in the county of County Durham based on the most recent graded Ofsted inspections. We order by headline grade first, then by publication date; ties are broken using “Quality of education” (where available), then contextual signals.
Graded primary schools
20
Outstanding
11
Good
9
Median inspection year
2023
Ofsted grade mix (graded schools)
O: 55% · G: 45% · RI: 0% · I: 0%
Summary
Outstanding: 11
Good: 9
Requires improvement: 0
Inadequate: 0
Earliest inspection
Jan 2012
(exact date for Pro)
Latest inspection
Sep 2024
(exact date for Pro)
These rankings use each school’s latest graded Ofsted inspection. Ungraded visits do not replace the most recent graded judgement.
2
Thornhill Primary School
Primary • Community school • Shildon
Outstanding
3
Montalbo Nursery & Primary School
Primary • Community school • Barnard Castle
Outstanding
4
St John's Church of England Academy
Primary • Academy converter • Darlington
Outstanding
5
West Cornforth Primary School
Primary • Community school • Ferryhill
Outstanding
6
Sugar Hill Primary School
Primary • Community school • Newton Aycliffe
Outstanding
7
St Michael's Church of England Primary School
Primary • Academy converter • Ferryhill
Outstanding
8
Howden-le-Wear Primary School
Primary • Academy converter • Crook
Outstanding
9
Witton-le-Wear Primary School
Primary • Academy converter • Bishop Auckland
Outstanding
10
St Joseph's Catholic Junior School, Birtley
Primary • Academy converter • Chester le Street
Outstanding
Showing top 10 of 20.
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How we rank these schools
- Headline Ofsted grade orders: Outstanding (1), then Good (2), then RI (3), then Inadequate (4).
- More recent graded inspection dates rank higher.
- Where available, we use the Quality of education sub-judgement as a tie-breaker.
- We may consider contextual signals (e.g., %FSM, roll size) to break remaining ties.
Ungraded visits don’t replace the last graded judgement.
About Ofsted grades
- Outstanding (1) — highest judgement across key areas.
- Good (2) — consistently meets standards.
- Requires improvement (3) — not yet good; clear areas to improve.
- Inadequate (4) — significant weaknesses found.
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