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Best Nursery schools in County Durham

Top 20 by latest Ofsted graded judgements (showing top 10 – Go Pro for full list)
Quick compare: Top 3 nursery schools in County Durham
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These rankings cover nursery schools in the county of County Durham based on the most recent graded Ofsted inspections. We order by headline grade first, then by publication date; ties are broken using “Quality of education” (where available), then contextual signals.

Graded nursery schools
11
Outstanding
6
Good
5
Median inspection year
2015

Ofsted grade mix (graded schools)

O: 55% · G: 45% · RI: 0% · I: 0%

Summary

Outstanding: 6 Good: 5 Requires improvement: 0 Inadequate: 0
Earliest inspection
Mar 2013 (exact date for Pro)
Latest inspection
Nov 2023 (exact date for Pro)

These rankings use each school’s latest graded Ofsted inspection. Ungraded visits do not replace the most recent graded judgement.

  • 1.
    Horden Nursery School
    Nursery • Local authority nursery school • Peterlee • SR8 (full postcode for Pro)

    Last inspected on Apr 2015 – graded Outstanding by Ofsted. (exact date for Pro)

    Outstanding
  • 2.
    Seaham Harbour Nursery School
    Nursery • Local authority nursery school • Seaham • SR7 (full postcode for Pro)

    Last inspected on Apr 2015 – graded Outstanding by Ofsted. (exact date for Pro)

    Outstanding
  • 3.
    George Dent Nursery School
    Nursery • Local authority nursery school • Darlington • DL3 (full postcode for Pro)

    Last inspected on Mar 2015 – graded Outstanding by Ofsted. (exact date for Pro)

    Outstanding
  • 4.
    Rosemary Lane Nursery School
    Nursery • Local authority nursery school • Peterlee • SR8 (full postcode for Pro)

    Last inspected on Jan 2014 – graded Outstanding by Ofsted. (exact date for Pro)

    Outstanding
  • 5.
    Wingate Community Nursery School
    Nursery • Local authority nursery school • Wingate • TS28 (full postcode for Pro)

    Last inspected on Dec 2013 – graded Outstanding by Ofsted. (exact date for Pro)

    Outstanding
  • 6.
    Beechdale Nursery School
    Nursery • Local authority nursery school • Consett • DH8 (full postcode for Pro)

    Last inspected on Mar 2013 – graded Outstanding by Ofsted. (exact date for Pro)

    Outstanding
  • 7.
    Etherley Lane Nursery School
    Nursery • Local authority nursery school • Bishop Auckland • DL14 (full postcode for Pro)

    Last inspected on Nov 2023 – graded Good by Ofsted. (exact date for Pro)

    Good
  • 8.
    Borough Road Nursery School
    Nursery • Local authority nursery school • Darlington • DL1 (full postcode for Pro)

    Last inspected on Mar 2020 – graded Good by Ofsted. (exact date for Pro)

    Good
  • 9.
    Aclet Close Nursery School
    Nursery • Local authority nursery school • Bishop Auckland • DL14 (full postcode for Pro)

    Last inspected on Mar 2017 – graded Good by Ofsted. (exact date for Pro)

    Good
  • 10.
    Oxhill Nursery School
    Nursery • Local authority nursery school • Stanley • DH9 (full postcode for Pro)

    Last inspected on Apr 2015 – graded Good by Ofsted. (exact date for Pro)

    Good
Showing top 10 of 11. Go Pro to see the full list and unlock exact dates & full postcodes.
How we rank these schools
  1. Headline Ofsted grade orders: Outstanding (1), then Good (2), then RI (3), then Inadequate (4).
  2. More recent graded inspection dates rank higher.
  3. Where available, we use the Quality of education sub-judgement as a tie-breaker.
  4. We may consider contextual signals (e.g., %FSM, roll size) to break remaining ties.

Ungraded visits don’t replace the last graded judgement.

About Ofsted grades
  • Outstanding (1) — highest judgement across key areas.
  • Good (2) — consistently meets standards.
  • Requires improvement (3) — not yet good; clear areas to improve.
  • Inadequate (4) — significant weaknesses found.

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