St Aidan's Church of England Academy

About St Aidan's Church of England Academy

St Aidan's Church of England Academy is a secondary school in Darlington, classified by the DfE as a sponsor-led academy with a Church of England religious character. Around 594 pupils aged 11 to 16 attend the school. The school holds a 'Good' judgement from Ofsted. In the most recent GCSE results, pupils achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 40.0, below the national average of 46. That marks an improvement of 4.5 points in its Attainment 8 score on the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

41% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 59% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. St Aidan's Church of England Academy was not oversubscribed for September 2026: all 76 families who put it first were offered a place. After Year 11, 90% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 11.2%. There are about 18.7 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 45% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. When you visit, you might ask how the school stretches its higher-attaining pupils and supports those who need to catch up. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.