Darras Hall Primary School

Darras Hall Primary School is performing exceptionally well overall, achieving outstanding ratings in key areas of education, behavior, attitudes, personal development, and leadership. The school has built a strong community, fostering positive relationships between staff, students, and parents. High expectations lead to pupils achieving remarkable success, enjoying a knowledge-rich and culturally diverse curriculum. The early years provision is recognized as good, although some aspects of language development could be enhanced to further support children’s learning.

Strengths

• Excellent quality of education with a knowledge-rich curriculum.
• Strong community spirit with effective parent and carer partnerships.
• Exceptional behavior and attitudes among pupils.
• Outstanding personal development and well-being support for pupils.
• Well-sequenced curriculum enabling in-depth understanding.
• Swift support provided to pupils needing extra help with reading.
• Effective staff development and well-being prioritization.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistencies in developing children's language rigorously in early years.
• Occasional delays in engaging children in purposeful activities.

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 Darras Hall Primary School attended 96.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 3.4% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Darras Hall 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 Darras Hall Primary School had 21.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.1% 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, 4.8% of pupils at Darras Hall Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.6% 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 Darras Hall Primary School received £5,825 and spent £6,179 for each of its 450 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £497,000 (£1,104 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of Pele Trust, income was £7,483 and spending £7,649 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 Newcastle-Upon-Tyne · Northumberland local authority: places and applications

Darras Hall Primary School is part of Pele Trust, which runs 14 schools. The nearest others:

• Ponteland High School Ponteland
• Ponteland Primary School Ponteland
• Richard Coates Church of England Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Heddon-on-the-Wall, St Andrew's Church of England Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Belsay Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• John Spence Community High School North Shields
• Shilbottle Primary School Alnwick
• The Duchess's Community High School Alnwick
• Swansfield Park Primary School Alnwick
• Longhoughton Church of England Primary School Alnwick

What is Darras Hall Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Darras Hall Primary School is Outstanding, from an inspection in December 2023.

When was Darras Hall Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Darras Hall Primary School was last inspected in December 2023.

How many pupils does Darras Hall Primary School have?

Darras Hall Primary School has 459 pupils on roll.

What age range does Darras Hall Primary School cover?

Darras Hall Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Darras Hall Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 78% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Darras Hall Primary School?

Darras Hall Primary School is at Middle Drive, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE20 9DS.