Schools in Darlington

35 schools with published admissions figures

The newest figures for each school. "1st prefs per place" is how many families put the school first, for each place it gave out. It measures demand, not whether a child would get a place. A dash means the figure is not available.

How the 2026 round went in Darlington

Primary

• Offered their first choice 92.7%

  Of families applying for a primary place for September 2026. Against 91.2% in 2016.

• Offered one of their three 98.6%

  Families offered any of the schools they named.

• Families who applied 1,075

  Applications received for a primary place. A family naming three schools counts once.

For September 2026, 92.7% of families applying for a primary place here were offered their first choice, and 98.6% were offered one of the three schools they named.

That is 1.4 points higher than in 2016, when it was 91.2%.

The council's primary schools between them had 1,260 places for 1,075 applications. That is a total for the whole council and says nothing about any one school in it.

Secondary

• Offered their first choice 91.5%

  Of families applying for a secondary place for September 2026. Against 85.8% in 2016.

• Offered one of their three 98.7%

  Families offered any of the schools they named.

• Families who applied 1,134

  Applications received for a secondary place. A family naming three schools counts once.

For September 2026, 91.5% of families applying for a secondary place here were offered their first choice, and 98.7% were offered one of the three schools they named.

That is 5.7 points higher than in 2016, when it was 85.8%.

The council's secondary schools between them had 1,370 places for 1,134 applications. That is a total for the whole council and says nothing about any one school in it.

Source: Department for Education, applications and offers. The same round across England.

If a family is refused a place

Source: Department for Education, admission appeals in England, reporting year 2026. Counts every school in this council area. The share that succeeded is taken over appeals heard by a panel, not over appeals lodged.

Schools here running specialist SEN provision

4 of this council's published schools run a SEN unit or a resourced provision: teaching for children with special educational needs, on the same site as the rest of the school.

This says a provision exists and nothing more. Neither how many children it takes nor which kinds of need it is set up for is published for a mainstream school, and it is not a statement about how well any school supports children with SEN. Ask the school or the council. Source: Department for Education, special educational needs in England.

Elsewhere

• Most sought-after schools in Darlington by first preferences per place
• Schools in DL1 (15)
• Schools in DL2 (10)
• Schools in DL3 (13)
• Schools in DL5 (11)
• Schools in TS21 (7)
• What data we hold