Durham Academy (formerly Durham Community Business College) is a

coeducational 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 ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

located in

Ushaw Moor Ushaw Moor is an old pit village in County Durham, in England, on the north side of the River Deerness. It is situated to the west of Durham, England, Durham, a short distance to the south of Bearpark. Ushaw Moor falls within the Deerness elect ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England. The school educates pupils from Ushaw Moor and surrounding villages, including Sacriston, Lanchester,

Esh Winning Esh Winning is a village, and location of a former colliery, in County Durham, England. It is situated in the River Deerness, Deerness Valley to the west of Durham, England, Durham. History The village was founded by the Pease family in the 185 ...

Witton Gilbert Witton Gilbert is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in County Durham, England. Geography Witton Gilbert is situated about to the north-west of Durham, England, Durham. River Browney passes to the south of the village, while ...

, Langley Park and other areas North of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

History

In 2018, Durham Community Business College and Fyndoune Community College federated to become one provision - the Durham Federation. The majority of students were then educated at Durham Community Business College in Ushaw Moor. Fyndoune Community College in Sacriston offered a bespoke nurture provision as well as alternative education and vocational courses. As part of the federation, in 2018 the Ushaw Moor site had a new creative block constructed. This block includes catering facilities, an auditorium and music, technology and art facilities. In March 2020, a further proposal was announced to merge the two colleges into a single site, following a request by the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

. This was as a result of both schools being rated inadequate by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

in 2014 and being told to find an academy sponsor, which they had failed to do. Both schools where handed back to

Durham County Council Durham County Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of County Durham (district), County Durham in North East England. The council is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, bein ...

subject to being merged into a single site. Between 5 October & 15 November 2020 a consultation was carried out with governors, staff, parents and the wider community. 9 responses where received, with 5 supporting the schools merger and 4 against it. However, the council pointed out the responses against the merger failed to put forward education reasons to keep both schools open. In a report dated 19 November 2020, the Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services used their delegate powers to approve the merger of the colleges sites into a single site - Durham Community Business College with a proposed closure date for the Sacriston site as 12 April 2021. A further 4 week consultation period started on 26 November and no objections to the plans where received. The closure went ahead on 11 April 2021, one day earlier than expected. Previously a community school administered by

, in January 2023 Durham Community Business College converted to academy status and was renamed Durham Academy. The school is now sponsored by the Advance Learning Partnership.

Academics

Durham Academy offers

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

, BTECs,

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 awarded afte ...

and WJEC qualifications as programmes of study for pupils.

References

External links

Official school website
{{authority control Secondary schools in County Durham Academies in County Durham