County Durham School Catchment Areas

County Durham publishes its school admissions policy annually. With 209 primary and 30 secondary schools to allocate, the council uses a ranked oversubscription tiebreaker — usually looked-after children, then siblings, then catchment distance.

Durham, Bishop Auckland and Consett host the biggest clusters — useful to know when a preferred school is oversubscribed, because the next-nearest alternative is often in a neighbouring town rather than the same catchment.

Selective schools are part of the mix in County Durham — for those applying to grammar schools, a selective admissions test is required in addition to the standard admissions process.