Gurney Pease Academy

Darlington · DL1 2NG

General information Primary School · 2-11 years Who goes here 191 pupils, 51.1% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 19.4% on SEN support Behaviour 7.3% absence rate Staff 8.1% turnover Financials £7,717 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Gurney Pease Academy

General Information

Address: Dodsworth Street, Darlington, DL1 2NG – View on map
Phone: 01325380790
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Joanne Davison
Age range: 2-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 18 families put it first for 20 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 9 · 2025 10 · 2026 9
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

191 pupils out of 274 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 94
% eligible for free school meals: 51.1%
Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (similar to the Darlington average)
English as an additional language: 12% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 8.1% a year (Darlington 12%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 73% moved to another school, 27% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Darlington: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 1 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 5 (0.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in Darlington, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 7.3%
Persistently absent pupils: 22.4%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 19.4%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 3.1%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 22 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 8 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 5 pupils
Hearing impairment: 1 pupil
Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card February 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Needs attention

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 73% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 7% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 11 percentage points above the Darlington average (62%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 56% against an expected 55%)
3-year average (expected standard): 56%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 80% · Writing 80% · Maths 77% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 77%
Average test scores: reading 105, maths 104
Based on: 30 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolDarlington averageEngland↗ Improving Up 17 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 11 percentage points above the Darlington average (62%).

Year 6 SATs: 9th of 28 junior and primary schools in the area

#7Mount Pleasant Primary School76%
#8Bishopton Redmarshall CofE Primary School75%
#9Gurney Pease Academy73%
=10Corporation Road Community Primary School71%
=10St Augustine's Catholic Primary School71%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1St Teresa's Catholic Primary School85%
#2Hurworth Primary School83%
#3Springfield Academy79%
=4Abbey Junior School77%
=4Holy Family Catholic Primary School77%
=4Mowden Junior School77%
#7Mount Pleasant Primary School76%
#8Bishopton Redmarshall CofE Primary School75%
#9Gurney Pease Academy73%
=10Corporation Road Community Primary School71%
=10St Augustine's Catholic Primary School71%
#12St John's Church of England Academy70%
#13Heighington Church of England Primary School69%
=14Heathfield Primary School68%
=14Whinfield Primary School68%
#16West Park Academy67%
#17St Bede's Catholic Primary School64%
=18Firthmoor Primary School62%
=18High Coniscliffe CofE Primary School62%
#20Polam Hall School59%
=21Reid Street Primary School57%
=21St. George's Church of England Academy57%
#23Northwood Primary School56%
#24Harrowgate Hill Primary School48%
#25The Rydal Academy46%
#26St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School37%
#27Skerne Park Academy35%
#28Red Hall Primary School25%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £7,717 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

7th of 25 primary schools in Darlington for spending per pupil

#5High Coniscliffe CofE Primary School£8,000
#6Firthmoor Primary School£7,746
#7Gurney Pease Academy£7,717
#8Hurworth Primary School£7,398
#9Harrowgate Hill Primary School£7,390

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Red Hall Primary School£11,197
#2Bishopton Redmarshall CofE Primary School£9,597
#3Skerne Park Academy£9,429
#4Mount Pleasant Primary School£8,996
#5High Coniscliffe CofE Primary School£8,000
#6Firthmoor Primary School£7,746
#7Gurney Pease Academy£7,717
#8Hurworth Primary School£7,398
#9Harrowgate Hill Primary School£7,390
#10St John's Church of England Academy£6,966
#11The Rydal Academy£6,958
#12Heathfield Primary School£6,827
#13Corporation Road Community Primary School£6,777
#14St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School£6,623
#15Springfield Academy£6,581
#16Northwood Primary School£6,329
#17Heighington Church of England Primary School£6,304
#18St Teresa's Catholic Primary School£6,292
#19West Park Academy£6,096
#20St Augustine's Catholic Primary School£6,086
#21Whinfield Primary School£5,998
#22St Bede's Catholic Primary School£5,949
#23St. George's Church of England Academy£5,728
#24Holy Family Catholic Primary School£5,646
#25Reid Street Primary School£26

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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