Most sought-after schools in Darlington

Ordered by how many families put the school first, for each place it gave out.

This list is sorted by one number: first preferences per place. For each school it is the number of families who named it first, divided by the number of offers it made, in the newest year we hold. A higher number means more families wanted a place than there were places.

This is not a list of the best schools. It does not measure how good a school is, how happy the children are, or how well they do. It also does not tell you whether a child would get a place: that depends on where you live, the year, and the council's rules. It only shows how many people applied.

#	School	First preferences per place	Newest intake	Latest Ofsted
1	St John's Church of England Academy Darlington, primary	1.57	2026	Outstanding (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
2	Carmel College Darlington, secondary	1.41	2026	Not judged (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
3	Springfield Academy Darlington, primary	1.29	2026	Expected standard (Ofsted report card (current framework))
4	Holy Family Catholic Primary School Darlington, primary	1.27	2026	School remains Good (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
5	Mowden Infant School Darlington, primary	1.24	2026	School remains Good (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
6	Mount Pleasant Primary School Darlington, primary	1.10	2026	Good (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
7	St Bede's Catholic Primary School Darlington, primary	1.09	2026	Not judged (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
8	Hurworth Primary School Darlington, primary	1.03	2026	School remains Good (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
9	Bishopton Redmarshall CofE Primary School Bishopton, primary	1.00	2026	School remains Good (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
10	Corporation Road Community Primary School Darlington, primary	1.00	2026	Good (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
11	High Coniscliffe CofE Primary School Darlington, primary	1.00	2026	Good (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
12	Whinfield Primary School Darlington, primary	1.00	2026	School remains Good (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
13	Northwood Primary School Darlington, primary	0.98	2026	School remains Good (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
14	West Park Academy Darlington, primary	0.98	2026	School remains Good (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
15	Haughton Academy Darlington, secondary	0.97	2026	Expected standard (Ofsted report card (current framework))
16	Heathfield Primary School Darlington, primary	0.97	2026	Standards maintained (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
17	St Teresa's Catholic Primary School Darlington, primary	0.95	2026	School remains Good (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
18	Longfield Academy Darlington, secondary	0.94	2026	Not judged (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
19	Polam Hall School Darlington, all through	0.94	2026	Expected standard (Ofsted report card (current framework))
20	Heighington Church of England Primary School Newton Aycliffe, primary	0.93	2026	Standards maintained (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
21	Hurworth School Darlington, secondary	0.93	2026	Good (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
22	St Aidan's Church of England Academy Darlington, secondary	0.92	2026	Some aspects not as strong (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
23	St. George's Church of England Academy	0.92	2026	Good (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
24	Abbey Infants' School Darlington, primary	0.91	2026	Good (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
25	Firthmoor Primary School Darlington, primary	0.91	2026	Expected standard (Ofsted report card (current framework))
26	Red Hall Primary School Darlington, primary	0.91	2026	Not judged (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
27	Reid Street Primary School Darlington, primary	0.91	2026	School remains Good (Ofsted ungraded inspection)
28	Gurney Pease Academy Darlington, primary	0.90	2026	Needs attention (Ofsted report card (current framework))
29	Skerne Park Academy Darlington, primary	0.88	2026	Requires improvement (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
30	The Rydal Academy Darlington, primary	0.88	2026	Good (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
31	Harrowgate Hill Primary School Darlington, primary	0.85	2026	Needs attention (Ofsted report card (current framework))
32	Wyvern Academy Darlington, secondary	0.85	2026	Good (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
33	Hummersknott Academy Darlington, secondary	0.83	2026	Expected standard (Ofsted report card (current framework))
34	St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School Darlington, primary	0.80	2026	Good (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))
35	St Augustine's Catholic Primary School Darlington, primary	0.77	2026	Good (Ofsted graded inspection (previous framework))

Figures from the Department for Education, applications and offers. 35 schools in Darlington have a published per-place figure. Schools with too few places for the figure to mean anything are left off. All schools in Darlington · How we compare schools.