Darley Dale Primary School

Darley Dale Primary School is performing well overall, rated as good across all key areas including the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. The headteacher and staff are dedicated to ensuring that all pupils achieve their potential and are well-prepared for secondary school. The school provides engaging and challenging lessons, promotes a positive learning environment, and encourages pupils to take on responsibilities. However, the school was previously rated as outstanding, indicating a need for continuous improvement.

Strengths

• Teachers provide a good quality of education with interesting and challenging lessons.
• Pupils develop a genuine love for reading and spend time in the school library.
• Effective phonics teaching helps the majority of pupils develop necessary reading skills.
• Strong support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Pupils engage in various extracurricular activities and community service.

Areas for Improvement

• Some weaker readers are sometimes given books that are too hard for them.
• Curriculum planning is not sufficiently coherent in some foundation subjects.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Darley Dale Primary School attended 96.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 3.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.5% of pupils at Darley Dale Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Darley Dale Primary School had 26.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 10.7% of pupils at Darley Dale Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Darley Dale Primary School received £6,519 and spent £6,802 for each of its 214 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £12,000 (-£54 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Matlock · Derbyshire local authority: places and applications

What is Darley Dale Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Darley Dale Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Darley Dale Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Darley Dale Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Darley Dale Primary School have?

Darley Dale Primary School has 214 pupils on roll.

What age range does Darley Dale Primary School cover?

Darley Dale Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Darley Dale Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Darley Dale Primary School?

Darley Dale Primary School is at Greenaway Lane, Hackney, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 2QB.