Community special school

Croft Community School

Mixed · ages 4–16County Durham, North East · Stanley DH9 8PRSchool website
Pupils on roll
316of 281 places
Free school meals
58.3%
Year 11 cohort 2025
16
Ofsted
Report card, 13 January 2026Read the Ofsted report
Curriculum and teaching Needs attentionAchievement Needs attentionAttendance and behaviour Expected standardPersonal development and wellbeing Expected standardInclusion Expected standardLeadership and governance Needs attentionPost-16 provision Not applicableSafeguarding Met
What the data says

Of the 27 pupils who finished Year 11 at Croft Community School in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 85% to a further education college and none started an apprenticeship.

Almost nobody goes straight into an apprenticeship or a job: none took an apprenticeship and none went into work, against 3% and 3% across England.

Languages are a small part of the curriculum here: entries in French add up to 6% of the year group, and 0% of pupils entered the full EBacc set of subjects (England 41%).

Croft Community School is a special school: its GCSE figures (Attainment 8 of 2.1, 0% with grade 5 or above in English and maths) are published by DfE for completeness and are not comparable with mainstream schools.

Where pupils went after Year 11

Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in County Durham and England.

Croft Community School
County Durham
England
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureCroft Community SchoolCounty DurhamEngland
Pupils in the cohort275,399607,348
Any sustained destination93%89%92%
Stayed in education93%81%86%
— school sixth form0%30%34%
— sixth form college0%4%13%
— further education college85%46%37%
— other education7%1%2%
Apprenticeship0%5%3%
Employment0%3%3%
No sustained destination7%8%6%
Destination unknown0%3%3%

GCSE results 2025

MeasureCroft Community SchoolCounty DurhamEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)2.144.146.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths0%42%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths0%61%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects0%33%41%
EBacc average point score0.093.754.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort75%32%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils35.634.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils48.150.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language0%4%19%

Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.

Subjects taken at GCSE

Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
Fine Art956%9%0%28%0%
English Language213%89%20%
History213%41%26%
Mathematics213%88%22%
French16%18%29%
Physical Education16%11%24%

Other secondary schools in County Durham

Consett Academy

Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,493 pupils

86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.2

Dene Academy

Academy converter · 638 pupils

78% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.4

Durham Academy

Academy converter · 405 pupils

67% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.4

Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.