Longfield Academy

Longfield Academy has improved significantly since its previous inspection and is now a good school across the key areas inspected. Pupils are happy, kind and respectful, behaviour is calm and orderly, and clear routines support high expectations. The school offers an ambitious and broad curriculum, including vocational qualifications, and has effective systems for identifying and supporting pupils with SEND and for developing reading. Safeguarding is effective. The school is part of the Northern Arch Learning Partnership and has been through considerable change. Leaders accurately identify priorities, parents are largely positive, and staff workload and wellbeing are considered. Pupils benefit from a carefully planned personal development and enrichment programme, including careers guidance that prepares them well for next steps. There are still areas to improve. Curriculum implementation is not consistently strong in a few subjects, which has led to gaps in knowledge and lower examination outcomes than the school intends. Oversight of the curriculum for pupils attending alternative provision is not sufficiently clear, and a small number of pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, do not attend regularly enough to access the full curriculum and wider school experience.

Strengths

• Significant improvement in school culture since the previous inspection
• Pupils are happy, kind, friendly and respectful
• Behaviour is calm and orderly, with clear routines understood by pupils
• Pupils have raised expectations and produce work to expected standards
• The curriculum is ambitious, broad and suited to pupils' needs
• Vocational qualifications prepare pupils for apprenticeships post-16
• Teachers have appropriate subject knowledge and use regular recall effectively
• SEND identification and support are clear, with high expectations for pupils with SEND
• Reading support is effectively matched to pupils' needs and a love of reading is promoted
• Personal, social and health education is effective
• Careers guidance helps pupils make well-informed decisions
• Leaders are accurate about strengths and priorities and support staff wellbeing
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is not consistently strong enough in some subjects
• Some pupils have gaps in knowledge and do not make as much progress as they could
• Published outcomes in some subjects are lower than the school's ambition
• Oversight of the curriculum at alternative providers is insufficient
• Leaders do not communicate clearly enough with alternative providers about the learning pupils need
• Some pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, have low attendance rates
• Low attendance prevents some pupils from accessing the full curriculum and wider experiences

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 Longfield Academy attended 90.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 32.9% 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, 11.1% of pupils at Longfield Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 5 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 Longfield Academy had 18.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.4% 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, 17.4% of pupils at Longfield Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.7% 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 Longfield Academy received £8,737 and spent £8,641 for each of its 721 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £68,000 (£94 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of Northern Arch Learning Partnership, income was £6,632 and spending £6,674 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

Longfield Academy is part of Northern Arch Learning Partnership, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College Darlington
• Mowden Infant School Darlington
• Mowden Junior School Darlington
• The Rydal Academy Darlington
• Hurworth School Darlington

What is Longfield Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Longfield Academy is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Longfield Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Longfield Academy was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Longfield Academy have?

Longfield Academy has 660 pupils on roll.

What age range does Longfield Academy cover?

Longfield Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Longfield Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 39.8, and 34% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Longfield Academy?

Longfield Academy is at Longfield Road, Darlington, DL3 0HT.