The Academy at Shotton Hall, Peterlee

In 2026, pupils at The Academy at Shotton Hall averaged an Attainment 8 score of 55, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 44.6 in County Durham and 47 across England.

56% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 42% in County Durham and 47% in England.

That is up from 52.2 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.58: pupils made well above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 45.9, against 58.5 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 12.6 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 22 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, History and French.

For September 2026 entry, 277 families put The Academy at Shotton Hall as their first choice and 524 named it as one of their preferences, for 271 places offered. That is slightly more first choices than places. 11 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to The Academy at Shotton Hall are St Bede's Catholic School and Byron Sixth Form College (0.6 miles, Attainment 8 42.1); Dene Academy (1.5 miles, Good, Attainment 8 41.2); Wellfield School (1.6 miles, Attainment 8 47.3); and Easington Academy (2.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 51).

The Academy at Shotton Hall's 2026 results were higher than all 4 of them.

The Academy at Shotton Hall is one of 15 schools run by North East Learning Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 49.9 in 2024/25.

Of the 221 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 90% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 67% to a further education college, 2% to an apprenticeship and 1% into work.

34.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 2.6% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 171 pupils (14.2%) received SEN support and 13 (1.1%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is autism.

The Academy at Shotton Hall had 97 teachers in 2026, one for every 12 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical secondary school, at about one for every 17.

The nearest railway station is Horden, about 2.1 miles away in a straight line.

8 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Shotton Hall Academy (sw-bound), 70 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood The Academy at Shotton Hall stands in is among the 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In 2024/25, The Academy at Shotton Hall issued 92 suspensions, 7.9 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 5 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to The Academy at Shotton Hall are Shotton Hall Primary School (under 0.1 miles), Howletch Lane Primary School (0.6 miles), Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School (0.7 miles) and Acre Rigg Infant School (1.2 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.