School Organisation Plan 2025

Making major changes to school organisation

Changes to school organisation such as opening new schools, closing schools, or enlarging them cannot happen without consulting everyone likely to be affected. In August 2025 the Department for Education updated its guides that provided information on the procedures established by The Education and Inspections Act 2006 (EIA 2006) and The School Organisation (Prescribed Alterations to Maintained Schools) and (Establishments and Discontinuance of Schools) Regulations 2013. The new guidance sets out how any such proposals are decided. Most new schools will now be established via the Academy or Free School presumption and the related departmental advice describe the department's expectations of how that process should operate.

Academies

An Academy is a state-funded independent school which may have one or more sponsors. An Academy may be put forward in a competition for a new school, or the Council and potential sponsors may approach the government directly to suggest an Academy to replace one or more existing schools. The governing body of an existing school may decide to apply to the Secretary of State to convert to Academy status without a sponsor.

Free schools

A Free School is a new school set up with the consent of the Secretary of State by a group of parents or other interested people. Like an Academy, a Free School is an independent school funded directly by the government.

Other changes to schools

Proposals for other changes such as closing a school, enlarging it, or changing the age range, may be published by the Council or sometimes by school governing bodies. In most situations the Council will decide these proposals. In some circumstances there will be a right of appeal to an adjudicator. In all cases the people likely to be affected by any change - particularly parents, school staff and governors - must be consulted before any decision is taken. The decision-maker must also take account of guidance issued by the government.

More information about school organisation is available on the Department for Education website.

The aim is for schools to be more in charge of their own decisions about size and composition and to be able to respond to what parents want locally without being unduly restricted by process.

Forecasting Primary and Secondary pupil numbers

The Council continues to use the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) produced and supplied forecasting tables and methodology.

Pupil numbers in primary schools

Pupil numbers entering Reception have continued to fall in recent years in line with national lower birth rates and the number of surplus places in some schools across the six planning areas has increased. This is something we are monitoring as it is predicted to continue for the next couple of years. Overall surplus across the Borough has risen slightly to 18% and expected to rise.

Pupil numbers in secondary schools

A significant number of our secondary schools are oversubscribed reflecting parental choice. In recent years the Council has invested in increasing capacity in several schools to provide a little surplus in each of the three planning areas. This was to accommodate the forecasted growth in the demand for places as previously higher births entered Primary and transitioned into Secondary. At present this represents a surplus of 9% for September 2025.

The Council is mindful that across Stockton-on-Tees, pupil numbers peaked in 2023 to 2024 and have followed national trends as lower births across the Borough have seen a yearly reduction entering Reception since 2016 to 2017. These lower cohorts will increase our surplus position in Secondary in future years. This is evidenced as for September 2025 entry we have placed 2,367 Year 7 children whilst the equivalent September 2025 Reception cohort was only 2,056 - a 13% reduction. With continuing lower birth rates equating to lower primary pupils for at least for the next 3 to 4 years, the gap will increase.

Academies

In Stockton-on-Tees, since the last publication of the School Organisation Plan (SOP) we have seen a steady increase in the number of primary and secondary schools which have converted to Academy status (see Tables 1 to 4 for more details).

Table 1. Primary

Billingham and Wolviston

North Stockton

Central Stockton

Thornaby

Ingleby Barwick

Eaglescliffe and Yarm

Table 2. Secondary

Billingham and Wolviston

Stockton North and Central

Stockton South

Table 3. Free schools

Billingham and Wolviston

Stockton South

Table 4. Special schools and others

Academies are independent schools however for completeness this plan contains information about the number of places in Academies and projections of future student numbers. The number of Academy conversions is up to date as at the time of this report being produced.

Schools in Stockton-on-Tees

Early years education

Education is not compulsory for children under the age of five, but local authorities must ensure that a nursery place is available for every three and four-year-old whose parents want one and for every eligible 2-year-old that meets Government criteria. Every primary school in the Borough contains a nursery unit. In many schools this operates as a Foundation Stage Unit so that children can move between nursery and reception class in a flexible way to meet their individual needs. Additional nursery education places are offered by providers in the private, voluntary, and independent sectors including child minders. Visit the DfE website for further Government advice on early years.

Children in Stockton-on-Tees normally start full-time school in the September following their fourth birthday, but this can be deferred until the age of five at the request of parents.

Primary schools

From 1 September 2023 there were:

• sixty primary schools for children aged 4 to 11 of which 48 are Academies including one Free School
• one special school Academy for children aged up to 11 with a range of special educational needs (Ash Trees)
• one special school Academy for children aged 5 to 16 with a range of emotional and behavioural difficulties (Westlands)
• one pupil referral unit for primary-age pupils temporarily excluded from school (Bishopton Centre), which also converted 1 May 2021

Secondary schools

From 1 September 2023 there were:

• ten schools for pupils aged 11 to 16 of which 9 are Academies
• two schools for pupils aged 11 to 18 of which all are Academies
• one special school Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18 with a range of complex special educational needs (Abbey Hill Academy)
• one special school Academy for children aged 5 to 16 with behavioural, social, and emotional difficulties (Westlands)
• one pupil referral unit for pupils temporarily excluded from school (Bishopton Centre) which also converted 1 May 2021

Post 16 education and training in schools

The 11 to 18 schools in the above have a capacity for 676 children in their school sixth forms, available at the academies of Egglescliffe (400) and Conyers (276). In addition to School Sixth Form provision, learning and skills needs in Stockton-on-Tees are supported by one General Further Education College, one Sixth Form College and several Work Based Learning (WBL) providers offering Apprenticeships and WBL provider offering Foundation Learning.

The two colleges located within the Borough are Stockton Sixth Form College and Stockton Riverside College (SRC). SRC which operates on Teesdale with Bede College and the Skills Academy at Billingham sites.

A diverse range of maintained schools

"Maintained" means that the Council provides the governing bodies of those schools with an annual budget for their running costs. The schools maintained by the Council fall into one of three categories below.

• Community schools are owned by the Council. The Authority employs their staff and controls the admission of pupils.
• Voluntary Controlled schools are also owned by the Authority and operate largely in the same way as community schools. The Council employs their staff and controls the admission of pupils. The main difference is that the school governing body has some members appointed by a voluntary body. All the voluntary controlled schools in Stockton-on-Tees are primary schools associated with the Church of England.
• Voluntary Aided schools belong to a voluntary body (usually one of the Churches) although the Council normally owns their playing fields. The governing bodies of Voluntary Aided schools employ all their staff and control the admission of pupils. The governing body of a Voluntary Aided school normally contributes 10% towards the cost of any capital work on the school buildings, with the remainder funded by Government. The running costs of aided schools are funded by the Council in the same way as other schools.

In some parts of the country there are Foundation Schools. Like voluntary aided schools they own their land and buildings, they employ staff and control admissions, and the Foundation may appoint the majority of the school's governors. New Foundation Schools may be called "Trust Schools." There are no Foundation schools or Trust schools in Stockton-on-Tees.

Academies are not maintained by the Council but are independent schools funded by the government and may be supported by a private sponsor. The sponsor may appoint most governors and has influence over the curriculum of the school. Academies do not have to follow the national curriculum. They may have a longer school day and may employ staff on different conditions of service. Academies do not charge fees to students.

Free Schools are also independent schools funded directly by government and not maintained by Council. Any group (for example parents, a business or community group) may apply to the Secretary of State for permission to establish a Free School if they can demonstrate a demand for new school places.

At present we have two Free Schools - a 750 place secondary school in Stockton South (Ingleby Manor Free School - opened in September 2014) and a 420 place primary school in Billingham and Wolviston (Wynyard CE Primary - opened in September 2015).

The Council are aware that another Free School application has been successful and was given approval by the DfE albeit at a pre-opening stage in terms of the process and is expected to be built within Hartlepool Council's Wynyard development. We expect this proposed Free School will directly impact on primary schools in the Billingham and Wolviston area. Surplus currently stands at 19% and is predicted to increase further with some schools already operating at over 20% surplus and higher.

Both Councils accept that there is always potential for future demand due to the approved or planned housing across sites in both Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool Council areas. However, there isn't any clear evidence of sufficient demand at present and for many years to come due to the lower birth rates as alluded to above. The decision to 'approve in principle' of another primary Free School raises concerns as this is not in line with School Place Planning projections and expected low birth rate.

Currently we have available a capacity of 2,618 reception places that includes several schools and academies who have already consulted to reduce their admission number due to lower pupil coupled with around 2000 live births in future years, it is anticipated this will only increase surplus places further.

The Council are also monitoring interest from local developers and sponsors for a potential 900 place secondary Free School in Wynyard which will impact school places in the Billingham and Wolviston planning area. However a previous application has already been refused due to 'sufficient capacity' in the planning area and the Council as a whole and lower pupil yield from the Wynyard area. The Council believes this 'free school' will displace pupils from current schools (if approved) but is not sustainable longer term, as per the previously mentioned lower primary cohorts and those expected in the future due to the lower birth rates.

The Council are confident we will continue to be able to meet the expected demand for secondary places across the Borough with secondary surplus expect to continue to grow year on year as the lower primary cohorts leave and enter Year 7 whilst the predicted lower births in the future. 

Table 5 below shows the number of each type of school operating in Stockton-on-Tees from September 2025.

Table 5. School types

Federation

A federation is a group of two or more schools that have agreed to come together, often under a single governing body. The Council cannot create a federation of schools. This must be done by the governing bodies of the schools themselves after consulting parents, staff, other schools, and the Council.

The Stockton Borough First Federation was set up on 1 April 2006. This is made up of Abbey Hill School Technology College and Westlands School, two schools that jointly provide for pupils with many kinds of special educational needs. The federation has a single governing body and one executive head teacher. The two schools remain separate schools, each with its own budget, but the single governing body can share resources (including staff) across the two schools. Since 1 September 2013 both schools converted to Academy status and subsequently became a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) instead of a Federation and were joined by Green Gates and other SEN providers across the North East and Yorkshire.

Demand across the Borough

Early-years places

A free part-time nursery education place is available for every three and four-year-old whose parents want to take it up and for every eligible 2-year-old that meets Government criteria. Information about this can be found on our Early Education and Childcare webpage. This may be in one of the nursery units attached to every primary school in the borough, in a nursery operated by providers in the private, voluntary, and independent sectors or with a child minder. Information about private nursery and childcare providers is available from the Families Information Service at Stockton Information Directory.

Primary school places

The spring schools census collected in January 2025 recorded a total of 18,481 children on roll in the 60 schools across the borough. This included 16,368 children attending the year groups Reception through to Year 6 (primary cohort) against a capacity of 19,813 pupil places as reported in the school capacity survey (SCAP) 2025, providing a surplus of 15%. Table 6 shows the number of children in each year group as at the January 2025 census:

Table 6. Primary pupil numbers January 2025

Every school has a Published Admission Number (PAN), this is also referred to as the 'capacity' of children normally admitted into Reception (four-year-olds starting school for the first time). The total Reception capacity for entry in September 2024 (as recorded in SCAP 2025) across all primary schools was 2,655. Overall, in January we had a boroughwide surplus of 17% - though some planning areas have a higher percentage of surplus than others.

Secondary school places

The spring schools census collected in January 2025 recorded a total school population of 12,575 on roll in the 13 schools across the Borough. This included 11,997 children attending (Year 7 to Year 11) against a capacity of 12,665 pupil places (excluding School Sixth Form places of 676 which there were 578 recorded on roll) reported in SCAP 2025. Overall, in January we had a boroughwide surplus of %. Table 7 shows the number of children in each year group as at the January 2025 census:

Table 7. Secondary pupil numbers January 2025

There have been more pupil numbers entering Year 7 than there are leaving Year 11. In Table 7 it represents a 7.8% increase in the number of pupils entering secondary between September 2020 (Year 11) and September 2024 (Year 7). 

Strategy for school investment in Stockton-on-Tees

The key aims of the strategy for Stockton-on-Tees are:

• ensure that schools are maintained in a good condition, with maintenance work undertaken
• identify opportunities to improve the school stock
• provide sufficient school places across the Borough and have between 5% to 10% surplus places to:
  • provide every primary pupil a place within 2 miles
  • provide every secondary pupil a school place within 3 miles