St Teresa's Catholic Primary School

About St Teresa's Catholic Primary School

St Teresa's Catholic Primary School sits third out of 26 primary schools in Darlington, comfortably in the top 25% nationally, and its headline Key Stage 2 metric of 77% of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths is a full 18 percentage points above the local authority average of 59%. That gap is significant and tells you this is a school where academic expectations are clearly being met by the vast majority of its pupils. The school is oversubscribed by more than two to one, with 102 applications for 45 places in the 2025/26 intake, and 44 of those went to first-preference families. It's a Roman Catholic state primary for mixed-gender pupils aged 3 to 11, with a nursery on site, and it has held a Good rating from Ofsted since at least 2011, with its most recent ungraded inspection in February 2024 confirming it remains Good.

Looking closer at the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, the school performs particularly strongly in reading, where 86% of pupils met the expected standard and 51% reached the higher standard, compared with 84% and 33% in maths. The average scaled scores are 108 in reading and 106 in maths, both above the national benchmark of 100. Writing is slightly weaker, with 81% at expected and just 7% at the higher standard, matching the higher-standard figure for reading, writing and maths combined. The school's Ofsted report from February 2024 rated leadership and management as Good, and the early years provision was judged Requires improvement, which is a point to note for parents of younger children. The previous graded inspection in 2011 had rated the school Requires improvement overall, so the trajectory has been upward, and the school now sits among the top performers in Darlington, just behind St Augustine's Catholic Primary and West Park Academy.

Facilities include a library, outdoor playground, playing fields, sports hall and a chapel, and the school offers a broad range of sports from gymnastics and netball to swimming, cricket and tennis. Clubs include book club, choir, film club, art club and science club. The school has identified SEND provisions for moderate learning difficulty, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment, physical disability and other difficulties, so it is equipped to support a range of additional needs. With 14.3% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a mixed catchment. It is oversubscribed, so families will need to apply early and ideally have a first-preference link. This is a strong, well-regarded Catholic primary that delivers above-average outcomes and suits families who value academic rigour within a faith-based setting, though the early years provision is an area to investigate further if you have a child starting in nursery or Reception.

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