1
Seaham Harbour Nursery School
Seaham • County Durham • SR7 7NN
1
20 Apr 2015
Top 10 Nursery schools in County Durham
Updated for the latest inspections (median graded year: 2015)
This Top 10 showcases nursery schools in the county of County Durham. It’s built from the latest graded Ofsted inspections. We rank Outstanding (grade 1) above Good (grade 2), then prioritise newer inspections. As tie-breakers, we consider the “Quality of education” sub-judgement (where available), then %FSM and school size.
Total nursery schools
11
Outstanding
6
Good
5
Median inspection year
2015
Ofsted grade mix (graded schools)
O: 55% · G: 45% · RI: 0% · I: 0%
2
Horden Nursery School
Peterlee • County Durham • SR8 4TB
1
20 Apr 2015
3
George Dent Nursery School
Darlington • County Durham • DL3 7PY
1
11 Mar 2015
4
Rosemary Lane Nursery School
Peterlee • County Durham • SR8 3BQ
1
25 Jan 2014
5
Wingate Community Nursery School
Wingate • County Durham • TS28 5BD
1
24 Dec 2013
6
Beechdale Nursery School
Consett • County Durham • DH8 6AY
1
4 Mar 2013
7
Etherley Lane Nursery School
Bishop Auckland • County Durham • DL14 7RF
2
15 Nov 2023
8
Borough Road Nursery School
Darlington • County Durham • DL1 1SG
2
9 Mar 2020
9
Aclet Close Nursery School
Bishop Auckland • County Durham • DL14 6PX
2
29 Mar 2017
10
Oxhill Nursery School
Stanley • County Durham • DH9 7LR
2
1 Apr 2015
How we rank these schools
- Headline Ofsted grade: Outstanding (1) outranks Good (2), then RI (3), then Inadequate (4).
- More recent graded inspection dates rank higher.
- Where available, we use the Quality of education sub-judgement as a tie-breaker.
- Lower free school meals (%) may break remaining ties.
- Larger roll (pupil count) is a final tie-breaker.
Only the ten highest-ranked schools are shown; we also list “near misses” just below.
About Ofsted grades
- Outstanding (1): Highest judgement across key areas.
- Good (2): Strong effectiveness; meets standards consistently.
- Requires improvement (3): Not yet good; clear areas to improve.
- Inadequate (4): Significant weaknesses found.
Ungraded Section 8 visits check whether the previous graded judgement still stands, but they don’t replace it.
Data freshness & coverage
We refresh inspections and school snapshots regularly. If a school was inspected very recently, its report may not yet appear here.
Top-10 pages only appear for areas with at least 10 nursery schools that have a graded Ofsted inspection.
Map of the Top 10
Also highly rated nearby
- Tudhoe Moor Nursery School 2 • Feb 2015