Darrington Church of England Primary School

School overview

Darrington Church of England Primary School is a primary school serving Pontefract, Wakefield, classified by the DfE as a converter academy with a Church of England religious character. It has 129 pupils aged 3 to 11 on roll. In the most recent Key Stage 2 SATs, 64% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined — broadly in line with the national average of 61%. That is down 7.0 percentage points in the proportion reaching the expected standard on the previous year, though small year groups can make these figures swing sharply from year to year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 104 in reading and 103 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). Competition for places is real here - 83% of first-choice applicants were offered a Reception place for September 2026 (18 first choices for 15 places). Overall pupil absence was 5.2%. There are about 24.8 pupils per teacher. Its intake is relatively advantaged, with around 10% of pupils eligible for free school meals in the last six years versus about 24% nationally. Darrington Church of England Primary School does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. 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.