Holley Park Academy

About Holley Park Academy

Holley Park Academy is a primary school in Sunderland that parents clearly want to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 53 applications for just 32 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.66. Every one of those 32 first-preference applicants was offered a spot, which suggests that if you put it first on your form, you stand a strong chance. The school has a Good rating from Ofsted, confirmed in its most recent ungraded inspection in June 2024, where inspectors judged that the school remains Good. That rating has been consistent since at least its previous graded inspection in 2015, and the early years provision, leadership and management were all rated Good too. With 224 pupils on roll against a capacity of 236, the school is nearly full, and the relatively low proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at 9.8% hints at a broadly mixed intake.

Academically, Holley Park sits towards the bottom of the local league tables. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, 50% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with the Sunderland local authority average of 67%. That places the school 70th out of 73 primary schools in the area, in the bottom 50 nationally. Drilling into the individual subjects, 71% met the expected standard in reading, 53% in maths, and 82% in writing. At the higher standard, 12% of pupils achieved the higher benchmark across all three subjects, with reading the strongest at 29% and maths at 21%. Average scaled scores were 104 in reading and 102 in maths, both slightly above the national baseline of 100. There is no progress data available, so it is hard to say how much value the school adds from pupils’ starting points.

The school offers a decent range of facilities for a primary, including a sensory room, art studios, a gymnasium and an outdoor playground. There is also a chapel on site, despite the school having no religious character. Sports provision is strong, with options like swimming, gymnastics, tennis and netball, and clubs include drama, art, film and book club. For children with additional needs, the school lists support for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairments, and social, emotional and mental health needs. The school has a nursery provision, so children can start from age three. If you are looking for a school with a Good Ofsted rating that is popular locally and has a broad range of activities, Holley Park is worth a look, though the academic results are below the local average and the nearest Outstanding-rated primary is St John Boste in Washington, about 0.8 km away.

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