St Augustine's Catholic Primary School

St Augustine’s Catholic Primary School has demonstrated significant improvement since its last inspection, moving from a previous grade of Requires Improvement to a Good overall effectiveness. The headteacher and staff have worked diligently to raise expectations and the quality of education, resulting in above-average achievements for pupils at the expected standard in core subjects. The school emphasizes values of justice and fairness, fostering a positive environment for both learning and personal development. However, there are still areas needing attention, particularly in ensuring all pupils achieve to their fullest potential and enhancing engagement in learning to prevent restlessness in the classroom.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate excellent behaviour and positive attitudes to learning.
• The quality of education is rapidly improving, leading to rising pupil results.
• Strong culture of equality and justice amongst pupils.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• High-quality written work is observed when pupils are motivated.

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not consistently use assessment to inform planning adequately.
• Some pupils are not achieving at the higher standard.

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 Augustine's Catholic Primary School attended 97.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 2.1% 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 St Augustine's Catholic 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 St Augustine's Catholic Primary School had 26.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.6% 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 St Augustine's Catholic Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.7% 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 St Augustine's Catholic Primary School received £6,206 and spent £6,456 for each of its 210 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £88,000 (-£421 per pupil).

Across all 35 schools of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, income was £7,699 and spending £7,759 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 Augustine's Catholic Primary School is part of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, which runs 35 schools. The nearest others:

• Carmel College Darlington
• Holy Family Catholic Primary School Darlington
• St Teresa's Catholic Primary School Darlington
• St Bede's Catholic Primary School Darlington
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Newton Aycliffe
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Newton Aycliffe Newton Aycliffe
• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Stockton Stockton-On-Tees
• Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• St Gregory's Catholic Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Coundon Bishop Auckland

What is St Augustine's Catholic Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Augustine's Catholic Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2024.

When was St Augustine's Catholic Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School was last inspected in September 2024.

How many pupils does St Augustine's Catholic Primary School have?

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School has 224 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Augustine's Catholic Primary School cover?

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are St Augustine's Catholic Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Augustine's Catholic Primary School?

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School is at Beechwood Avenue, St Augustine's Rc Primary School, Darlington, County Durham, DL3 7HP.