Northwood Primary School
About Northwood Primary School
Northwood Primary School in Darlington has been rated Good by Ofsted following its most recent graded inspection in 2019, and an ungraded inspection in March 2024 confirmed the school remains Good. The inspection team singled out leadership and management, as well as early years provision, as Outstanding. That’s a notable turnaround from the school’s previous graded inspection in 2015, when it was rated Requires Improvement overall. On the key academic metric for primary schools — the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — Northwood sits at 44%. That’s well below the Darlington local authority average of 59% and places the school 21st out of 26 primary schools in the borough, putting it in the bottom half nationally. Just 5% of pupils reached the higher standard in all three subjects, compared with 19% who hit the higher bar in maths alone.
Key Details
The full report on this school
The inspection in plain English, admissions context, and how this school compares to nearby alternatives — all in one full school report.
- Ofsted inspection in plain EnglishStrengths, concerns and what inspectors flagged
- Parent View survey resultsWhat parents told Ofsted — when the school has 10+ responses
- Where Ofsted and parents disagreeGaps to probe + questions to ask at the open day
- Admissions & catchmentAdmission criteria, distance cutoffs (where the LA publishes them)
- Nearby schools comparedBackup options with Ofsted, demand and distance
- Attendance & behaviour dataPersistent absentees, suspensions and exclusions vs national
Ofsted Inspection Breakdown
6 Mar 2024Latest monitoring visit (6 Mar 2024): School remains Good
Source: Ofsted, 10 Feb 2019. Ratings: 1=Outstanding, 2=Good, 3=Requires Improvement, 4=Inadequate.
Facilities
9Facilities may vary. Contact the school for current availability.
Extracurriculars
10Sports
Clubs & Activities
Activities may vary by term. Contact the school for current offerings.
SEND Support
Source: Department for Education, 2024/25. Support availability based on current student population.
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