Plains Farm Academy
Tudor Grove, Sunderland, SR3 1SU
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- INSPIRE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Miss Lesley Cassidy
- Religious ethos
- None
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Sponsor
- Inspire Multi Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Sunderland Central
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 240
- Pupils on roll
- 164
- URN
- 139389
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01915203109
About this school
Plains Farm Academy is a primary academy in Sunderland. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 164 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
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 4 December 2024, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 | 29 | 28 | 23 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 59% | 68% | 65% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 7% | 9% |
| Expected standard in reading | 69% | 75% | 74% |
| Expected standard in maths | 69% | 71% | 65% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 62% | 75% | 65% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 101.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.70 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -3.30 | - | - |
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 Plains Farm 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 | Sunderland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 59% | 60.4% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 68% | 63.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 65% | 63% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 190 |
| 2023/24 | 188 |
| 2024/25 | 176 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Plains Farm Academy compares
Plains Farm Academy ranked 43rd of 75 primary schools in Sunderland for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 53% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 65% | 6.4% | 48.5% | 164 | — |
| Richard Avenue Primary School | 64% | 6.1% | 20.2% | 445 | 0.6 miles |
| Barnes Junior School | 38% | 5.8% | 29.6% | 341 | 0.6 miles |
| Barnes Infant Academy | — | 6% | 14.5% | 311 | 0.6 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Sunderland | 95% | 4.4% | 6.9% | 472 | 0.7 miles |
| Thorney Close Primary School | 63% | 6% | 59.4% | 289 | 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 48.48%
- English as an additional language
- 4%
- Overall absence
- 6.44%
- Persistent absence
- 21.62%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Richard Avenue Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Sunderland
-
Barnes Junior School0.6 miles
Primary · Sunderland
-
Barnes Infant Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Sunderland
-
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Sunderland0.7 miles
Primary · Sunderland
-
Thorney Close Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Sunderland
Other schools in Sunderland
Plains Farm Academy ranks 28th of the 43 ranked primary schools in Sunderland.
- Barnes Infant Academy Primary
- Barnes Junior School Primary
- Benedict Biscop Church of England Academy Primary
- Bexhill Academy Primary
- Broadway Junior School Primary
- Castletown Primary School Primary
- Cleadon Church of England Academy Primary
- Dame Dorothy Primary School Primary
- Diamond Hall Infant Academy Primary
- Diamond Hall Junior Academy Primary
- East Herrington Primary Academy Primary
- English Martyrs' Catholic Primary School, Sunderland Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Plains Farm Academy teach?
- Plains Farm Academy teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Sunderland.
- Who is the headteacher of Plains Farm Academy?
- The headteacher of Plains Farm Academy is Miss Lesley Cassidy, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Plains Farm Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Plains Farm 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 big is Plains Farm Academy?
- Plains Farm Academy has 164 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Plains Farm Academy full?
- Plains Farm Academy has capacity for 240 pupils and 164 on roll (68%), so it has space against 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 Plains Farm Academy a faith school?
- No. Plains Farm Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Plains Farm Academy have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Plains Farm Academy as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Plains Farm Academy?
- Plains Farm Academy is part of INSPIRE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Plains Farm Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 59% in 2022/23 and 65% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Plains Farm Academy rank locally?
- Plains Farm Academy ranked 43rd of 75 primary schools in Sunderland for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 53% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Plains Farm Academy's absence rate?
- Plains Farm Academy's overall absence rate is 6.4% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Plains Farm Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Plains Farm 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 1 July 2026.