Durham High School closure will see the school shut at the end of the academic year after Durham Education Ltd said it could not secure the school’s long-term future. The school will then go into administration at the end of the term. Yan Gao, the director of Durham Education Ltd, told parents the consortium was deeply sorry to have reached this point.
Yan Gao and September places
Gao said the immediate priority was the well-being and continued education of every pupil. He wrote that the school had already worked with several local schools to help families secure places for September. He also said receiving schools would, wherever possible, honour existing fee and bursary arrangements as pupils move into the next stage of their education.
Students awaiting GCSE and A level results will be supported by staff. That leaves families with two practical tasks at once: securing new school places for September and waiting for results support to carry them through the end of term.
Durham Education Ltd and Durham
Durham High School is owned and operated by Durham Education Limited, and the company is part of the Chinese-owned Galaxy Global Education Group, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The school had already faced uncertainty over its future before the closure was set out, so the latest letter turns that uncertainty into a timed exit for pupils and staff.
Last year, Durham High School announced a decision to move from single-sex to teaching boys. In December 2024, it received the Sunday Times Independent Secondary School of the Year (North East) award. The closure now overtakes both of those milestones and leaves the school focused on transfers, support and administration at term end.
