Springfield Academy

Springfield Academy is a highly inclusive primary school that is performing well overall. Safeguarding standards are met. Inclusion is a standout strength: leaders put pupils at the heart of decisions, identify barriers early, and provide strong support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, including through tenacious work with external agencies and families. Pupils feel known and valued, behave well, and attend increasingly well. Across the main areas of provision, the school is at least at expected standard. Achievement is solid: phonics attainment is above the national average, the Year 4 multiplication check has improved, and Year 6 outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are close to the national average, including for disadvantaged pupils. Early years provision is ambitious, teaching is inclusive and staff are well trained. Leadership, governance and personal development are effective, with strong pastoral care and a wide range of enrichment. The school is part of the Education Village Academy Trust. There are still areas to improve. Attainment at the higher standard is variable, and in a few foundation subjects pupils do not always deepen or retain knowledge as well as they could. Leaders' monitoring and action planning in some foundation subjects is not sharp enough, and pupils' knowledge of other faiths is less well developed. These are identified next steps rather than serious weaknesses.

Strengths

• Inclusion is at the heart of leaders' decision-making and is a clear strength of the school.
• Staff identify barriers to learning early and are highly knowledgeable about pupils' needs.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils make considerable progress from their starting points.
• Most pupils with SEND secure important early reading, writing and mathematics knowledge.
• Leaders act tenaciously to secure external support and therapies for vulnerable pupils.
• Productive relationships with families and external agencies create highly coherent partnerships.
• Phonics attainment in Year 1 is above the national average.
• Standards in the Year 4 multiplication check have risen and are reflected in pupils' work.
• Pupils typically behave well in calm and purposeful classrooms, and bullying is rare.
• Attendance is improving, particularly for more vulnerable pupils.
• The curriculum in reading and mathematics has been well improved, with effective staff training.
• Teaching is highly inclusive, with sensible adjustments and well-judged support from additional adults.
• Early years provision is ambitious, with strong language, phonics and early reading development.
• Leadership and governance are effective, with staff proud of the school and parents positive about support.
• Personal development is well considered, including online safety, healthy lifestyles and mental health support.
• Pupils develop tolerance, understand British values and take on valuable leadership roles.
• The shared site with a secondary school provides specialist modern foreign languages teaching and on-site swimming.

Areas for Improvement

• Attainment at the higher standard is variable, and leaders have identified this as a next step.
• In a few wider curriculum subjects, pupils recall recent learning but find it harder to remember what they have learned over time.
• Some planned tasks do not focus enough on developing pupils' deep knowledge and understanding, including in subjects such as history.
• Leaders' monitoring of the impact of curriculum and teaching in some foundation subjects is not incisive enough.
• In a few subjects, action planning is less sharply focused on the impact of curriculum and teaching and on enabling higher academic standards.
• Pupils' knowledge of other faiths is less thoroughly developed.

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 Springfield Academy attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.5% 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, 1.7% of pupils at Springfield Academy 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 Springfield Academy had 20.8 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, 12.7% of pupils at Springfield Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.8% 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 2024–25 Springfield Academy received £7,376 and spent £7,333 for each of its 231 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £438,000 (£1,901 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of The Education Village Academy Trust, income was £11,154 and spending £10,724 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

Springfield Academy is part of The Education Village Academy Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Haughton Academy Darlington
• Beaumont Hill Academy Darlington
• Whinfield Primary School Darlington
• Gurney Pease Academy Darlington
• Reid Street Primary School Darlington
• Marchbank Free School Darlington

What is Springfield Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Springfield Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Springfield Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Springfield Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Springfield Academy have?

Springfield Academy has 236 pupils on roll.

What age range does Springfield Academy cover?

Springfield Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Springfield Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 79% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Springfield Academy?

Springfield Academy is at Salters Lane South, Darlington, County Durham, DL1 2AN.