Haughton Academy
Salters Lane South, Darlington, DL1 2AN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE EDUCATION VILLAGE ACADEMY TRUST
- Chief Executive
- Mrs Jane Darbyshire
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Darlington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 854
- URN
- 138089
- Local authority
- Darlington
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01325254000
About this school
Haughton Academy is a secondary academy in Darlington. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 854 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Haughton Academy, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 154 | 136 | 168 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.8 | 39.8 | 38.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.29 -0.52 to -0.07 | -0.57 -0.81 to -0.32 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 37% | 43.4% | 33.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 56% | 58.8% | 54.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 40% | 41.9% | 31% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Haughton Academy has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Darlington average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42.8 | 37.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.8 | 36.5 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 38 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 10.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 854 |
| 2023/24 | 872 |
| 2024/25 | 890 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Haughton Academy compares
Haughton Academy ranked 7th of 8 secondary schools in Darlington for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 33% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38 | 9.3% | 44.4% | 854 | — |
| St Aidan's Church of England Academy | 40 | 11.4% | 45.5% | 587 | 1.0 miles |
| Longfield Academy | 42.8 | 10% | 37.2% | 660 | 1.2 miles |
| Carmel College | 53.5 | 5.9% | 19.2% | 1,367 | 2.6 miles |
| Wyvern Academy | 37.7 | 9.4% | 45.7% | 464 | 2.8 miles |
| Hummersknott Academy | 47.8 | 7.7% | 23% | 1,215 | 3.0 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
-
Graded inspection report12 May 2026
- 1 February 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 44.38%
- English as an additional language
- 4.7%
- Overall absence
- 9.33%
- Persistent absence
- 29.6%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Aidan's Church of England Academy1.0 miles
Secondary · Darlington
-
Longfield Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Darlington
-
Carmel College2.6 miles
Secondary · Darlington
-
Wyvern Academy2.8 miles
Secondary · Darlington
-
Hummersknott Academy3.0 miles
Secondary · Darlington
Other schools in Darlington
Haughton Academy ranks 8th of the 9 ranked secondary schools in Darlington.
- Carmel College Secondary
- Hummersknott Academy Secondary
- Hurworth School Secondary
- Longfield Academy Secondary
- St Aidan's Church of England Academy Secondary
- Staindrop Academy Secondary
- Wyvern Academy Secondary
- Borough Road Nursery School Nursery
- George Dent Nursery School Nursery
- Abbey Infants' School Primary
- Abbey Junior School Primary
- Corporation Road Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Haughton Academy teach?
- Haughton Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Darlington.
- Who is the chief executive of Haughton Academy?
- The chief executive of Haughton Academy is Mrs Jane Darbyshire, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Haughton Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Haughton Academy, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Haughton Academy?
- Haughton Academy has 854 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Haughton Academy full?
- Haughton Academy has capacity for 900 pupils and 854 on roll (95%), 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 Haughton Academy a faith school?
- No. Haughton Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Haughton Academy a selective school?
- No. Haughton Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Haughton Academy part of an academy trust?
- Haughton Academy is part of THE EDUCATION VILLAGE ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Haughton Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.8 in 2022/23 and 38 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Haughton Academy compare with other schools in Darlington?
- Haughton Academy ranked 7th of 8 secondary schools in Darlington for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 33% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 10% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Haughton Academy's absence rate?
- Haughton Academy's overall absence rate is 9.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Haughton Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Haughton Academy'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 15 July 2026.