King James I Academy Bishop Auckland
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · County Durham
South Church Road, Bishop Auckland, DL14 7JZ
59
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
86%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
90.9%
30.5% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
936
Capacity used
Nearly full98%
956 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
86%
1st preference success rate
174 of 203 families who put it first got an offer
176
Places offered
492
Total applications
2.8
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 203 | 174 | ● 86% |
| 2nd preference | 180 | 2 | ● 1% |
| 3rd preference | 109 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 492 | 176 | 36% |
1st preference success by year
County Durham lets families list 3 preferences. 1 applications came from outside the council area (0 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Simon Whitehead
- Address
- South Church Road, Bishop Auckland, DL14 7JZ
- Phone
- 01388603388
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Ward / constituency
- Bishop Auckland · Bishop Auckland
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 136770
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 51% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 2% | — | — |
| SEN support | 25% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: EDEN LEARNING TRUST
936 pupils · 956 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 26
17 March 2026
S5 Inspection · report card
Inclusion Strong standard Achievement Expected standard Safeguarding standards Met Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Attendance and behaviour Expected standard Leadership and governance Expected standard Early years Not applicable Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard Post-16 provision Expected standard - 22
17 February 2022
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 827 pupils
Attendance
90.9%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.1%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
30.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.9%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
4.1%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 41.6 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.21 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 29% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 54% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.29 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 34.61 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 43.9 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 28.7% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 59.4% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 22.4% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.53 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 143 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 32.09 | 35 |
| Average grade | C+ | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 7.7% | 17% |
| A-level students | 44 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 143 | 4% | 37% | 63% | |
| English Language | 143 | 8% | 45% | 64% | |
| English Literature | 143 | 6% | 41% | 69% | |
| Combined Science | 129 | 2% | 21% | 47% | |
| Art and Design | 82 | 24% | 90% | 100% | |
| History | 69 | 19% | 55% | 71% | |
| Religious Studies | 66 | 5% | 33% | 47% | |
| Geography | 58 | 12% | 45% | 57% | |
| Statistics | 54 | 7% | 67% | 96% | |
| Spanish | 23 | 0% | 17% | 35% | |
| Biology | 13 | 23% | 62% | 85% | |
| Chemistry | 13 | 23% | 77% | 85% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photography | 14 | 0% | 0% | 36% | |
| History | 10 | 0% | 10% | 50% | |
| Sociology | 8 | 0% | 0% | 25% | |
| Biology | 7 | 0% | 14% | 43% | |
| Fine Art | 7 | 0% | 29% | 71% | |
| Chemistry | 7 | 0% | 29% | 57% | |
| Mathematics | 7 | 14% | 29% | 57% | |
| English Literature | 6 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Computer Science | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Mathematics (Further) | 3 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Oxbridge
No Cambridge applications recorded for this school in 2020–2025.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 35% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 13% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 40% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through County Durham council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.