# Schools in Darlington 35 schools with published admissions figures "1st preferences per place" is how many families named a school first, for each place it offered, in the newest year held. It describes demand. It is not a pass rate and it does not say whether a child would be offered a place. A dash means the figure is not held. ## How the 2026 round went Counts families, not schools. The table below cannot be added up into these figures, because a child naming three schools appears in three of its rows. ### Primary 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 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. ## If a family is refused a place In 2026, families in Darlington lodged 40 appeals about a school place. 30 of them were heard by a panel and 5 succeeded, which is about 17 in every 100 heard. The other 10 did not reach a panel. Most appeals that do not are withdrawn because a place comes up first. This is a record of decisions already made. A panel hears one case at a time and decides it on what that family sets out, so these figures do not indicate what would happen in any particular appeal. 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. | School | Phase | What it runs | |---|---|---| | [Heathfield Primary School, Darlington](/school/138179/heathfield-primary-school) | primary | Resourced provision | | [Mount Pleasant Primary School, Darlington](/school/143449/mount-pleasant-primary-school) | primary | Resourced provision | | [Red Hall Primary School, Darlington](/school/114183/red-hall-primary-school) | primary | SEN unit | | [Hurworth School, Darlington](/school/136525/hurworth-school) | secondary | Resourced provision | 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. ## All Through | School | 1st prefs per place | Latest Ofsted | |---|---:|---| | [Polam Hall School (Darlington)](/school/142174/polam-hall-school) | 0.94 | Expected standard | ## Primary | School | 1st prefs per place | Latest Ofsted | |---|---:|---| | [Abbey Infants' School (Darlington)](/school/136988/abbey-infants-school) | 0.91 | Good | | [Bishopton Redmarshall CofE Primary School (Bishopton)](/school/137021/bishopton-redmarshall-cofe-primary-school) | 1.00 | School remains Good | | [Corporation Road Community Primary School (Darlington)](/school/143512/corporation-road-community-primary-school) | 1.00 | Good | | [Firthmoor Primary School (Darlington)](/school/138129/firthmoor-primary-school) | 0.91 | Expected standard | | [Gurney Pease Academy (Darlington)](/school/138362/gurney-pease-academy) | 0.90 | Needs attention | | [Harrowgate Hill Primary School (Darlington)](/school/135088/harrowgate-hill-primary-school) | 0.85 | Needs attention | | [Heathfield Primary School (Darlington)](/school/138179/heathfield-primary-school) | 0.97 | Standards maintained | | [Heighington Church of England Primary School (Newton Aycliffe)](/school/137022/heighington-church-of-england-primary-school) | 0.93 | Standards maintained | | [High Coniscliffe CofE Primary School (Darlington)](/school/142961/high-coniscliffe-cofe-primary-school) | 1.00 | Good | | [Holy Family Catholic Primary School (Darlington)](/school/139533/holy-family-catholic-primary-school) | 1.27 | School remains Good | | [Hurworth Primary School (Darlington)](/school/138180/hurworth-primary-school) | 1.03 | School remains Good | | [Mount Pleasant Primary School (Darlington)](/school/143449/mount-pleasant-primary-school) | 1.10 | Good | | [Mowden Infant School (Darlington)](/school/138175/mowden-infant-school) | 1.24 | School remains Good | | [Northwood Primary School (Darlington)](/school/142462/northwood-primary-school) | 0.98 | School remains Good | | [Red Hall Primary School (Darlington)](/school/114183/red-hall-primary-school) | 0.91 | Not judged | | [Reid Street Primary School (Darlington)](/school/136836/reid-street-primary-school) | 0.91 | School remains Good | | [Skerne Park Academy (Darlington)](/school/139195/skerne-park-academy) | 0.88 | Requires improvement | | [Springfield Academy (Darlington)](/school/138088/springfield-academy) | 1.29 | Expected standard | | [St Augustine's Catholic Primary School (Darlington)](/school/139531/st-augustine-s-catholic-primary-school) | 0.77 | Good | | [St Bede's Catholic Primary School (Darlington)](/school/138523/st-bede-s-catholic-primary-school) | 1.09 | Not judged | | [St John's Church of England Academy (Darlington)](/school/138128/st-john-s-church-of-england-academy) | 1.57 | Outstanding | | [St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School (Darlington)](/school/142962/st-mary-s-cockerton-church-of-england-primary-school) | 0.80 | Good | | [St Teresa's Catholic Primary School (Darlington)](/school/146256/st-teresa-s-catholic-primary-school) | 0.95 | School remains Good | | [St. George's Church of England Academy](/school/138000/st-george-s-church-of-england-academy) | 0.92 | Good | | [The Rydal Academy (Darlington)](/school/138989/the-rydal-academy) | 0.88 | Good | | [West Park Academy (Darlington)](/school/137042/west-park-academy) | 0.98 | School remains Good | | [Whinfield Primary School (Darlington)](/school/150006/whinfield-primary-school) | 1.00 | School remains Good | ## Secondary | School | 1st prefs per place | Latest Ofsted | |---|---:|---| | [Carmel College (Darlington)](/school/137622/carmel-college) | 1.41 | Not judged | | [Haughton Academy (Darlington)](/school/138089/haughton-academy) | 0.97 | Expected standard | | [Hummersknott Academy (Darlington)](/school/136838/hummersknott-academy) | 0.83 | Expected standard | | [Hurworth School (Darlington)](/school/136525/hurworth-school) | 0.93 | Good | | [Longfield Academy (Darlington)](/school/145577/longfield-academy) | 0.94 | Not judged | | [St Aidan's Church of England Academy (Darlington)](/school/135314/st-aidan-s-church-of-england-academy) | 0.92 | Some aspects not as strong | | [Wyvern Academy (Darlington)](/school/143845/wyvern-academy) | 0.85 | Good | Full page: /schools/darlington Figures from the Department for Education, Ofsted and local authorities; each school's own page lists its sources and dates.