The Children and Young People's Overview and Scrutiny Committee of County Durham Council met on Friday 6 March 2026 to discuss school attendance and education outcomes. The meeting's report pack outlined scheduled discussions on the current state of school attendance across the county, including national and local data, policies, and collaborative efforts. Additionally, the committee was set to review the performance of schools in County Durham through Ofsted inspections and examine educational attainment data across various key stages.

School Attendance

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on school attendance in County Durham. This discussion was to cover the national and local context, relevant local policies, published data, and collaborative working initiatives. The report indicated a strong year-on-year local attendance improvement trajectory and reduction in persistent absence for the autumn term of the 2025/26 academic year. It also highlighted the Department for Education's updated statutory guidance, 'Working together to improve school attendance', which mandates attendance data sharing by all schools and introduces a new National Framework for Penalty Notices for absence. The council was noted to have been proactive in its local implementation of these new measures through the local attendance alliance and wider partnerships.

The report pack included detailed statistics on overall absence, persistent absence, and severe absence across primary, secondary, and special schools, with data presented for the autumn terms of 2022, 2023, and 2024, as well as provisional data for the autumn term of 2025. Regional comparisons for Year to Date Overall Attendance were also provided, showing County Durham's figures against other local authorities in the North East. Further data was presented on absence rates for Children in Need and children subject to a Child Protection Plan.

The agenda also outlined discussions on the Department for Education and the County Durham Council's attendance agenda, detailing expectations for schools, trusts, and the local authority. This included information on safeguarding, legal responsibilities, and the role of various support services. The report also touched upon the development of further portal functionalities and welfare checks. Specific attention was to be given to children with a social worker, with evidence of increased collaboration between education and social care teams noted. The report also addressed frequent absence due to illness, outlining the expected roles of school staff, school nursing services, mental health support teams, and GPs in supporting pupils. Future opportunities for joint working with DASH (Durham Association of Headteachers) and a severe absence project were also mentioned.

Education Outcomes

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on Ofsted inspections of County Durham's maintained schools and educational outcomes for 2025. The report detailed the new Ofsted inspection framework, which replaced single-word judgments with a five-tier report card system, designed to provide more nuanced feedback and transparency for parents.

The report presented data on Ofsted inspection outcomes for nursery, primary, secondary, and special schools in Durham, comparing them to national and regional data as of 31 August 2023 and 31 August 2024. It was noted that from September 2024 onwards, due to changes in the Ofsted framework, national and regional data for Overall Effectiveness was no longer available, with a focus shifting to Quality of Education. The data indicated that for nursery and primary schools in Durham, 91% were rated Good or better as of 31 August 2025. For secondary schools, this figure was 87%, and for special schools, it was 89%.

The report also detailed the types of inspections conducted between September 2024 and August 2025, categorising them as graded or ungraded. It provided outcomes for graded inspections focusing on Quality of Education across different school types. Furthermore, it outlined the outcomes of ungraded inspections, which assess the effectiveness of schools in maintaining standards.

Summary data for Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) profiles in 2025 showed that 65% of children in Durham achieved a Good Level of Development (GLD), which was below national (68%) and regional (67%) benchmarks. The report highlighted an attainment gap between pupils in receipt of free school meals and those not, and outlined the council's statutory target for GLD by 2028.

Key Stage 2 outcomes for 2025 indicated a steady improvement in Reading, Writing, and Maths results in Durham, with the gap between local and national performance narrowing. For Key Stage 4 in 2025, provisional figures showed trends in grades 9-5 and 9-4 for English and Maths, as well as Attainment 8 scores. Key Stage 5 data for 2025 presented A-level results, including Average Point Score (APS) per entry and average grades for A-levels, Applied General qualifications, and Tech Level qualifications.

The report also included an appendix detailing research by the Local Government Association (LGA) on achieving the 'Best Start in Life', which aimed to identify effective local authority and partner strategies and solutions to key barriers impacting progress towards the national GLD target. This research involved literature reviews, case studies, and multi-agency workforce and parent workshops. Key findings highlighted the importance of strategic leadership, early intervention, workforce development, better use of data, and community engagement. Parents' perspectives emphasised the need for reliable information, accessible support, improved SEND provision, and play-based opportunities.

The meeting was also scheduled to include a presentation by the Head of Education and Skills, covering Ofsted report cards, current inspection data, and educational attainment summaries.

The Appeals and Complaints Sub-Committee was also scheduled to meet, with one item on the agenda concerning an appeal originally scheduled for 5 February 2026. This item was designated for discussion in a part of the meeting not open to the public due to the consideration of exempt or confidential information.