Whitworth Park Academy is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

located in

Spennymoor Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is south of Durham, England, Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England.

History

The school was formerly known as Spennymoor Comprehensive up until 2012, when it merged with Tudhoe Grange School. The school was subsequently renamed Whitworth Park School. The school moved into new buildings in 2013 that were officially opened by

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a member of the British royal family. Queen Elizabeth II and Edward were first cousins through their fathers, King George VI, and Prince George, Duk ...

. The school used to operate a

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

provision which offered a range of

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

s and vocational courses for students. However, in August 2017 the sixth form provision was closed. In December 2016 Whitworth Park School was rated 'Inadequate' by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

who identified poor achievement and lack of leadership in their report. Previously a

foundation school In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools. Foundation schools were set up under the School Standards and Framework A ...

administered by Durham County Council, in September 2018 Whitworth Park School converted to academy status and renamed Whitworth Park Academy. The school is now sponsored by the Advance Learning Partnership.

Academics

Whitworth Park Academy offers

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

, BTECs and

Cambridge Nationals Cambridge Nationals are a vocational qualification in the United Kingdom introduced by the OCR Examinations Board to replace the OCR Nationals. These are Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications for students aged 14 to 16 and are usually a two-year c ...

as programmes of study for pupils.

References

External links

Whitworth Park Academy official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in County Durham Academies in County Durham Spennymoor