Primary
The Rydal Academy
Rydal Road, Darlington, DL1 4BH
Key facts
- Phase
- Primary
- Type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 2 to 11
- Intake
- Mixed
- Pupils
- 584 of 630 places
- Pupils per teacher
- 17.3
- Local authority
- Darlington
- Nursery
- Yes
- Trust
- NORTHERN ARCH LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
Staffing23/24
- Teachers (FTE)
- 34.2
- All staff (FTE)
- 55.9
- Pupils per adult
- 10.6
- Pupils
- 592
Staff are counted as full-time equivalents in the November school workforce census, so the pupil figure here is that census’s own and will differ a little from the roll above, which is counted in January.
Ofsted
Last inspected December 2022
Good
- Behaviour and attitudesGood
- Early yearsGood
- Leadership and governanceGood
- Personal developmentGood
- Quality of educationGood
Inspected under the previous framework, which used its own four-point scale. Ofsted now publishes a report card grading several areas separately, so these grades are not directly comparable with a recent inspection’s.
SafeguardingMet
Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)Earlier inspections1
December 2019
Ungraded inspection
Good
Read the report (opens in a new tab)
SATs results
46%
21 points below the Darlington average (67% across 31 schools)
103.0
2.8 below the Darlington average (105.8 across 31 schools)
25th of 31 by our score, among the primary schools in Darlington we can score - 34 in total, the rest without enough published data. Local and same-phase on purpose: a national table mostly measures who attends.
All published measures2024/2025
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Average maths score | 101 |
| Average reading score | 103 |
| Reading, writing and maths | 46% |
| Working at a higher standard | 4% |
From the Department for Education. Measures are published per year and suppressed where a cohort is too small, so some schools show fewer. There are no results for 2019/20 or 2020/21, when exams and assessments were cancelled.
Results over time3 years
Each measure on its own scale, over every year we hold.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 22/23 | 38% |
| 23/24 | 33% |
| 24/25 | 46% |
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 22/23 | 104.0 |
| 23/24 | 101.0 |
| 24/25 | 103.0 |
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 22/23 | 102.0 |
| 23/24 | 99.0 |
| 24/25 | 101.0 |
Rydal Road, Darlington, DL1 4BH
Admissions
How to apply (opens in a new tab)
You apply through your council, not the school - even for academies and free schools. Applications close on 15 January, the year before starting.
Darlington admissions (opens in a new tab)
The council publishes the oversubscription criteria and last year’s offer distances, which is the closest thing to knowing your chances.
If you are refused a place (opens in a new tab)
You can appeal, and you can join a waiting list at the same time. Accept whatever offer you get first - declining it can leave you with no place at all.
This school’s own admissions (opens in a new tab)
Schools that set their own criteria - faith schools, grammars, academies - publish them on their own site.
Contact
- Headteacher
- John Armitage
- Address
- Rydal Road, Darlington, DL1 4BH
- Telephone
- 01325380784