St Aidan's Church of England Academy

St Aidan’s Church of England Academy is currently performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across all inspected areas. The school has made significant improvements since its last inspection, shifting from a 'Requires Improvement' grade and demonstrating a strong commitment to supporting its students. The staff create a warm and caring environment where pupils feel safe, respected, and proud of their school. This development is attributed to strong leadership and a robust curriculum focused on preparing pupils for life beyond school, despite some gaps in knowledge due to past staffing challenges.

Strengths

• Strong leadership and management showing a commitment to improvement
• Pupils feel safe, happy, and valued
• Good behaviour and low levels of disruption
• A strong curriculum that extends beyond GCSE preparation
• Effective teaching that builds good relationships with pupils
• Strong support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities

Areas for Improvement

• Some gaps in knowledge in subjects due to previous staffing changes
• Curriculum planning is not yet fully coherent in some areas
• Opportunities for extending pupils' understanding could be improved

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 St Aidan's Church of England Academy attended 88.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 35.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 17.8% of pupils at St Aidan's Church of England Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 St Aidan's Church of England Academy had 16.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 14.0% of pupils at St Aidan's Church of England Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 St Aidan's Church of England Academy received £9,076 and spent £8,939 for each of its 597 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £292,000 (£489 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of Northern Lights Learning Trust, income was £8,188 and spending £8,299 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Darlington · Darlington local authority: places and applications

St Aidan's Church of England Academy is part of Northern Lights Learning Trust, which runs 12 schools. The nearest others:

• Firthmoor Primary School Darlington
• Ian Ramsey Church of England Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• Tilery Primary School Stockton-On-Tees
• St Peter's Elwick Church of England Primary School Hartlepool
• Grange Primary School Hartlepool
• Hart Primary School Hartlepool
• St Helen's Primary School Hartlepool
• Benedict Biscop Church of England Academy Sunderland
• Venerable Bede Church of England Academy Sunderland
• Holley Park Academy Washington

What is St Aidan's Church of England Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Aidan's Church of England Academy is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was St Aidan's Church of England Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Aidan's Church of England Academy was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does St Aidan's Church of England Academy have?

St Aidan's Church of England Academy has 587 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Aidan's Church of England Academy cover?

St Aidan's Church of England Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St Aidan's Church of England Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 41.6, and 41% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Aidan's Church of England Academy?

St Aidan's Church of England Academy is at Hundens Lane, Darlington, County Durham, DL1 1LL.