Mowden Junior School
Conyers Avenue, Darlington, DL3 9DE
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 7 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- NORTHERN ARCH LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
- Headteacher
- Mrs Lexi Wilkinson
- Sponsor
- Swift Academies
- Constituency
- Darlington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 248
- Pupils on roll
- 295
- URN
- 138176
- Local authority
- Darlington
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01325380820
About this school
Mowden Junior School is a primary academy in Darlington. It teaches children aged 7 to 11 and has 295 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 31 March 2022, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 92 | 90 | 86 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 68% | 76% | 77% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 3% | 14% | 13% |
| Expected standard in reading | 80% | 87% | 86% |
| Expected standard in maths | 85% | 90% | 86% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 84% | 86% | 83% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 108.0 | 108.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 107.0 | 107.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.50 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.10 | - | - |
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 Mowden Junior 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 | Darlington average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 68% | 55.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 76% | 56% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 77% | 59.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 337 |
| 2023/24 | 342 |
| 2024/25 | 318 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Mowden Junior School compares
Mowden Junior School ranked 5th of 28 primary schools in Darlington for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 82% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 95% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 77% | 3.4% | 14.5% | 295 | — |
| Mowden Infant School | — | 3.2% | 8% | 169 | 0.1 miles |
| St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School | 37% | 4.9% | 33.8% | 216 | 0.4 miles |
| Holy Family Catholic Primary School | 77% | 4.1% | 15.6% | 234 | 0.6 miles |
| Abbey Junior School | 77% | 3.8% | 8.2% | 362 | 0.7 miles |
| Mount Pleasant Primary School | 76% | 5.7% | 56.9% | 259 | 0.7 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 14.47%
- English as an additional language
- 3.8%
- Overall absence
- 3.35%
- Persistent absence
- 2.81%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Mowden Infant School0.1 miles
Primary · Darlington
-
St Mary's Cockerton Church of England Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Darlington
-
Holy Family Catholic Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Darlington
-
Abbey Junior School0.7 miles
Primary · Darlington
-
Mount Pleasant Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Darlington
Other schools in Darlington
Mowden Junior School ranks 8th of the 29 ranked primary schools in Darlington.
- Abbey Infants' School Primary
- Abbey Junior School Primary
- Corporation Road Community Primary School Primary
- Croft Church of England Primary School Primary
- Firthmoor Primary School Primary
- Gainford Church of England Primary School and Preschool Primary
- Gurney Pease Academy Primary
- Harrowgate Hill Primary School Primary
- Heathfield Primary School Primary
- High Coniscliffe CofE Primary School Primary
- Holy Family Catholic Primary School Primary
- Hurworth Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Mowden Junior School teach?
- Mowden Junior School teaches children aged 7 to 11. It is a primary school in Darlington.
- Who is the headteacher of Mowden Junior School?
- The headteacher of Mowden Junior School is Mrs Lexi Wilkinson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Mowden Junior School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Mowden Junior 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 Mowden Junior School?
- Mowden Junior School has 295 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 11.
- Is Mowden Junior School full?
- Mowden Junior School has capacity for 248 pupils and 295 on roll (119%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Mowden Junior School a faith school?
- No. Mowden Junior School has no designated religious character.
- Does Mowden Junior School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Mowden Junior School as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Mowden Junior School?
- Mowden Junior School is part of NORTHERN ARCH LEARNING PARTNERSHIP. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Mowden Junior 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 77% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Mowden Junior School rank locally?
- Mowden Junior School ranked 5th of 28 primary schools in Darlington for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 82% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 95% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Mowden Junior School's absence rate?
- Mowden Junior School's overall absence rate is 3.4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Mowden Junior School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Mowden Junior 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 1 July 2026.