Charles Darwin Community Primary School
Darwin Street, Castle, Northwich, CW8 1BN
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Marianne Bennett
- Constituency
- Mid Cheshire
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 342
- Pupils on roll
- 331
- URN
- 111053
- Local authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 0160675194
About this school
Charles Darwin Community Primary School is a community primary school in Northwich. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 331 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Strong standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 44 | 46 | 55 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 68% | 70% | 75% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 11% | 7% | 13% |
| Expected standard in reading | 70% | 76% | 89% |
| Expected standard in maths | 89% | 89% | 89% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 91% | 87% | 91% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 106.0 | 108.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 109.0 | 108.0 | 109.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.60 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Charles Darwin Community Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 68% | 57.1% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 70% | 57.9% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 75% | 59.1% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 338 |
| 2023/24 | 348 |
| 2024/25 | 355 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Charles Darwin Community Primary School compares
Charles Darwin Community Primary School ranked 23rd of 116 primary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 78% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 75% | 5.1% | 27% | 331 | — |
| Winnington Park Community Primary and Nursery School | 56% | 3.9% | 13.2% | 420 | 0.3 miles |
| St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School | 62% | 5.1% | 9.6% | 191 | 0.5 miles |
| Kingsmead Primary School | 66% | 3.2% | 6.7% | 308 | 0.7 miles |
| Witton Church Walk CofE Aided Nursery and Primary School | 35% | 6.2% | 33.3% | 219 | 0.8 miles |
| Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery | 77% | 5% | 6.6% | 442 | 0.8 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 27.04%
- English as an additional language
- 15.8%
- Overall absence
- 5.12%
- Persistent absence
- 12.74%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Winnington Park Community Primary and Nursery School0.3 miles
Primary · Northwich
-
St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Northwich
-
Kingsmead Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Northwich
-
Witton Church Walk CofE Aided Nursery and Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Northwich
-
Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery0.8 miles
Primary · Northwich
Other schools in Northwich
Charles Darwin Community Primary School ranks 5th of the 24 ranked primary schools in Northwich.
- Antrobus St Mark's CofE Primary School Primary
- Barnton Community Nursery and Primary School Primary
- Comberbach Nursery and Primary School Primary
- Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School Primary
- Cuddington Primary School Primary
- Davenham CofE Primary School Primary
- Great Budworth CofE Primary School Primary
- Hartford Manor Primary School & Nursery Primary
- Hartford Primary School Primary
- Kingsmead Primary School Primary
- Leftwich Community Primary School Primary
- Little Leigh Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Charles Darwin Community Primary School teach?
- Charles Darwin Community Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Northwich.
- Who is the headteacher of Charles Darwin Community Primary School?
- The headteacher of Charles Darwin Community Primary School is Mrs Marianne Bennett, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Charles Darwin Community Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Charles Darwin Community Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Charles Darwin Community Primary School?
- Charles Darwin Community Primary School has 331 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Charles Darwin Community Primary School full?
- Charles Darwin Community Primary School has capacity for 342 pupils and 331 on roll (97%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Charles Darwin Community Primary School a faith school?
- No. Charles Darwin Community Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Charles Darwin Community Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Charles Darwin Community Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Charles Darwin Community Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 68% in 2022/23 and 75% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Charles Darwin Community Primary School rank locally?
- Charles Darwin Community Primary School ranked 23rd of 116 primary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 78% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 56% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Charles Darwin Community Primary School's absence rate?
- Charles Darwin Community Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Charles Darwin Community Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Charles Darwin Community Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.