Norman Cornish Academy
Special / other · Spennymoor · DL16 7QW
Data updated
Graded inspection under the pre-November 2025 system
This is an overall-effectiveness grade from the previous inspection framework. The school has not yet had a report-card inspection.
Inspected 5 December 2023
Read the Ofsted report ↗At a glance
64 pupils · 85% of 75 capacity (January 2026 census)
- School type
- Academy special converter
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Free school meals
- 78.1% of pupils (January 2026)
- URN
- 151483
In figures
Ofsted last graded it Requires improvement on 5 December 2023, under the framework used before November 2025. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 25.4% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.
Special educational needs
Needs this school records that it caters for, in the order it lists them.
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)
White British 95% (County Durham 94%, England 66%) · Mixed White and Black African 3% (County Durham 0%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 2% (County Durham 0%, England 2%)
Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures
Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)
Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms · how absence is measured
Staffing
Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.
Vacancies (November 2025)
0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, special schools and PRUs: 0.68% vacant, 1.02% temporary
Teacher pay (November 2025)
Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £53,239; 15.4% on the leadership pay range · England, special schools and PRUs: £53,604, 18.3%
Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted
The area around the school
- Child poverty (IDACI)
- 5/10around the middle for England
- Overall deprivation (IMD)
- 3/10more deprived than most of England
| Census 2021 | This area | England |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with a degree or higher | 27.7% | 33.9% |
| Adults with no qualifications | 21.3% | 18.1% |
| In managerial or professional work | 28.3% | 33.2% |
| Households deprived in two or more ways | 23.6% | 18.1% |
| Residents in very good health | 47.8% | 48.5% |
| Homes owned by the occupier | 59.4% | 62.3% |
| Social housing | 31.5% | 17.1% |
| Privately rented | 9% | 20.5% |
| Detached houses | 25% | 22.9% |
| Flats | 1.3% | 22.2% |
| Homes with four or more bedrooms | 16.6% | 21.1% |
| Households with no car or van | 20.8% | 23.5% |
These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01034504 · how to read area figures
What homes cost nearby
- Median sale price
- £150,000307 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
- Typical range
- £94,000–£186,000the middle half of sales
- England median
- £300,000all sales over the same period
Homes around this school are among the cheapest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.
Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Roads around the school
- Child pedestrian casualties
- 0an urban school averages 2.0
- Collisions at school-run times
- 1an urban school averages 5.7
- All reported collisions
- 2an urban school averages 30.5
- Of those, serious or fatal
- 1an urban school averages 6.1
A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted