Belmont Community School
Community school · 887 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 53.4
Academy special converter
Norman Cornish Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 64of 75 places
- Free school meals
- 78.1%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 16
- Ofsted
- Requires improvement, 5 December 2023Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: The Meadows School (URN 131905, until 1 February 2025).
What the data says
Of the 10 pupils who finished Year 11 at Norman Cornish Academy in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 50% to a further education college and none started an apprenticeship.
30% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 5.7 against 46.1 across England and 44.1 in County Durham, with 0% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
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.
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.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Norman Cornish Academy | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 10 | 5,399 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 60% | 89% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 60% | 81% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 0% | 30% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | 4% | 13% |
| — further education college | 50% | 46% | 37% |
| — other education | 10% | 1% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 5% | 3% |
| Employment | 0% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 30% | 8% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 10% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Norman Cornish Academy | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 5.7 | 44.1 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 42% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 61% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 0% | 33% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 0.26 | 3.75 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 88% | 32% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | — | 35.6 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | — | 48.1 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 0% | 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.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 9 | 56% | 89% | 0% | 20% | 0% |
| Mathematics | 8 | 50% | 88% | 0% | 22% | 0% |
| Physical Education | 7 | 44% | 11% | 0% | 24% | 0% |
| Citizenship Studies | 6 | 38% | 3% | 0% | 19% | 0% |
| Art and Design | 5 | 31% | 7% | — | 24% | — |
| English Literature | 5 | 31% | 86% | — | 21% | — |
Other secondary schools in County Durham
Bishop Barrington Academy
Academy converter · 599 pupils
81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.4
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
Durham Johnston Comprehensive School
Community school · sixth form · 1,667 pupils
90% stayed in education · Attainment 8 55.2
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.