Ofsted: Good trending_up Popular emoji_events #184 in County Durham public Top 100% UK

Blessed John Duckett Catholic Primary School, Tow Law

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMiss Jenna Ellison

corporate_fareBISHOP HOGARTH CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST

location_onBishop Auckland, DL13 4AU

language Visit Website phone 1388731082

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2025

groups

Students

school

Expected Standard

11%

local_fire_department

Demand Ratio

1.1x

summarize

Blessed John Duckett Catholic Primary School, Tow Law is a Academy converter primary school in Bishop Auckland, serving ages 3-11. Rated Good by Ofsted. Demand is above capacity (1.1×) — apply through your local authority on time. Ranks in the top 100% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

Blessed John Duckett Catholic Primary School, Tow Law is an academy converter in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, admitting pupils aged 3-11. It is part of BISHOP HOGARTH CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST. The school has approximately 77 pupils on roll, of whom 35% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 11% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined. The school ranks #184 of 185 primaries in County Durham and #14,110 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2025. The school's current overall rating is Good. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Good, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Good.

The school is oversubscribed — in the most recent cycle, there were 1.1× as many applications as places, making a successful application competitive.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 16.9:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 1.3 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

11%

LA 60%

Reading56% LA 72%

Writing33% LA 72%

Maths22% LA 72%

Read SS

103

Maths SS

GPS SS

100

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

43%

LA 58%England 61%

Reading86% LA 73% · Eng 74%

Writing57% LA 71% · Eng 72%

Maths43% LA 70% · Eng 73%

Read SS

107

Maths SS

100

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

75%

LA 58%England 60%

Reading100% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing75% LA 71% · Eng 71%

Maths88% LA 71% · Eng 73%

Read SS

109

Maths SS

106

GPS SS

107

Progress (0 = national avg)

2.5

Read

LA -0.6

-1.9 to 6.8

-2.1

Write

LA -0.1

-6.3 to 2.0

0.6

Maths

LA -0.9

-3.5 to 4.7

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

28 January 2025

Inspection Report

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08 February 2022

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2025-01-28

S5 Inspection EIF

Not Judged

info

Why no overall grade?

From autumn 2024, Ofsted stopped issuing a single headline grade (Outstanding / Good / RI / Inadequate). Instead, each inspection area is graded individually. This follows a major review after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023. The overall effectiveness field is left as "Not judged" in the published data.

Education

Good

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Good

2012-05-16

S5 Inspection EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

2007-11-21

None EIF

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

gavel

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

2.6%per term

warning Above Average

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

2.6%(2 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 77 pupils. During this period, there were 2 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 2.6%, which is above the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	77	2	2.6%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	75	0	0.0%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	72	0	0.0%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	71	2	2.8%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	70	0	0.0%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	72	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	68	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	65	0	0.0%	0.6%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Speech, Language & Communication 7 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 2 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 2 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 1 pupils

Multi-Sensory Impairment 1 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 1 pupils

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Blessed John Duckett Catholic Primary School, Tow Law

School Summary

Academic Performance

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Inspection History

Admissions Insight

How Places Are Allocated

Faith Priority (Roman Catholic)

Distance to School

School Capacity

Primary Admission Trends

Students & School Environment

School Size

Language Diversity

Inclusive Support

Attendance

Ethnicity Breakdown

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Funding & Staffing

School Funding Allocation

Funding Breakdown

Staffing

Teacher Turnover

Top Primary Schools in County Durham

West Cornforth Primary School

Cleves Cross Primary and Nursery School Academy

Sacriston Academy

Coxhoe Primary School

Framwellgate Moor Primary School

Burnopfield Primary School