Norman Cornish Academy
Special school school · Academy special converter · ages 11 to 16 · Mixed
Whitworth Lane, Spennymoor, DL16 7QW
- Pupils64
- Ages11 to 16
- Latest Ofsted5 Dec 2023
- FundingState-funded
Ofsted inspections
Shown exactly as Ofsted published them, each with its own date.
Graded inspection · 5 Dec 2023
This inspection was of a predecessor school (The Meadows School), before it reopened under its current reference number. Ofsted says grades of a predecessor school can’t, in law, transfer to the new one.
Overall effectiveness: Requires improvement
- Quality of educationRequires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudesRequires improvement
- Personal developmentRequires improvement
- Leadership and managementRequires improvement
- Safeguarding is effectiveYes
Grades run from Outstanding to Inadequate (four steps, left to right).
Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 2 · report published 31 Jan 2024
Read the full reports on Ofsted’s website (opens in a new tab) — they explain the reasons behind each grade.
Source: Ofsted, state-funded school inspections and outcomes: management information (latest inspections as at 30 September 2026). Newer inspections may be on Ofsted’s website. How Ofsted inspections work.
Results
GCSE results (end of Year 11, key stage 4)
Latest: 2025/26 (provisional) · 14 pupils. Each figure shows its year. What these mean
2025/26 results are provisional: the DfE will revise them (next update due February 2027). The provisional data has no EBacc figures, so EBacc is from an earlier year.
Attainment 8 score
Each pupil’s results across 8 qualifications (maths counts double, and English usually does too), averaged across the school. It partly reflects pupils’ starting points.
2025/26 (provisional)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs
Often called a “strong pass” in both subjects.
2025/26 (provisional)
Grade 4 or above in English and maths GCSEs
Often called a “standard pass” in both subjects.
2025/26 (provisional)
Progress 8 score
Compares pupils’ Attainment 8 results with pupils across England who had similar results at the end of primary school. 0 means about the same; above 0 means more progress, below 0 less. How to read Progress 8.
No Progress 8 score
The Department for Education says Progress 8 can’t be calculated for 2024/25 or 2025/26, because those pupils had no key stage 2 test results (the tests were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19).
Results describe one group of pupils in one year, so they can change a lot — especially in small schools. The DfE says “conclusions should not be drawn on a single piece of data alone.” This school on the DfE’s performance tables (opens in a new tab).
Source: Department for Education, school performance tables and Explore education statistics (key stage 4, 2025/26 provisional). England and local authority figures are the DfE’s own, for the same year.
Pupils and attendance
- Pupils
- 64 (capacity 75)
12 girls, 52 boys - Eligible for free school meals
- 78.1% (currently eligible, census of January 2026)
Sources: Get Information about Schools; DfE school census and absence statistics via the performance tables. What these figures mean.
About the school
- Type
- Academy special converter (Academies)
- Trust
- HORIZONS SPECIALIST ACADEMY TRUST
- Sponsor
- Horizons Specialist Academy Trust
- Boys, girls or mixed
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Does not apply
- Special needs catered for
- SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Opened
- 1 February 2025
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Parliamentary constituency
- Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor
- URN
- 151483 (the DfE’s reference number for the school)
Source: Get Information about Schools (Department for Education). See the full record (opens in a new tab).
Admissions
A school named in a child’s education, health and care (EHC) plan must give them a place. Ask your council about places at special schools.
How school admissions work: deadlines, oversubscription and appeals.