Farringdon Academy

Farringdon Academy is a larger-than-average primary school in Sunderland and is part of Inspire Multi Academy Trust. This full inspection found the school performing at the expected standard across achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards are met. Pupils are safe, happy and behave very well; they benefit from warm relationships with staff, a calm and purposeful learning environment, and a broad enrichment offer that includes local heritage visits, sports, choir and pupil leadership.

Strengths

• Pupils are safe, happy and behave very well in a calm, purposeful environment.
• Warm and supportive relationships between staff and pupils create a strong sense of security.
• The curriculum is logically ordered and teachers have the knowledge and skills to deliver it effectively.
• Strong phonics teaching in the early years helps pupils learn to read successfully.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are accurately identified and well supported.
• Leaders, trustees and governors know the school well and provide effective support and challenge.
• Staff value the professional learning programme and feel supported with their workload and wellbeing.
• Personal development is broad, with pupils accessing sports, choir, productions, youth club and local heritage experiences.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are included well in enrichment and school life.
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve in line with their peers nationally.
• Pupils generally progress well from their starting points and are prepared well for their next steps.
• Safeguarding has an open and positive culture, and legal requirements are met.

Areas for Improvement

• Overall attendance is below the national average and has been for some time.
• Persistent absence remains too high, and too many pupils miss school regularly.
• Some pupils do not achieve as highly as they could in national reading assessments at the end of key stage 2.
• Teaching of reading comprehension and fluency is variable as pupils move through the school.
• Opportunities for pupils to deepen their knowledge are not consistently embedded across the curriculum.
• A significant minority of children with low starting points are not as well prepared for key stage 1 as they could be.
• It is too early to see the full impact of leaders' actions to improve attendance.
• Early years support for pupils with low starting points needs further tailoring to individual needs.

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 Farringdon Academy attended 92.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 24.7% 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 Farringdon 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 Farringdon Academy had 21.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.1% 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, 15.6% of pupils at Farringdon Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.8% 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 Farringdon Academy received £7,537 and spent £7,290 for each of its 356 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £165,000 (£463 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Inspire Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,763 and spending £7,626 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 Sunderland · Sunderland local authority: places and applications

Farringdon Academy is part of Inspire Multi Academy Trust, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• Plains Farm Academy Sunderland
• New Penshaw Academy Houghton Le Spring
• Burnside Academy Inspires Houghton Le Spring
• Fatfield Academy Washington

What is Farringdon Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Farringdon Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Farringdon Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Farringdon Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Farringdon Academy have?

Farringdon Academy has 384 pupils on roll.

What age range does Farringdon Academy cover?

Farringdon Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Farringdon Academy?

Farringdon Academy is at Archer Road, Farringdon, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR3 3DJ.