Hummersknott Academy, Darlington

Ofsted's report card from its 3 February 2026 inspection grades Hummersknott Academy on 6 areas: 2 strong standard and 4 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Leaders analyse information about pupils' attendance meticulously."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Leaders have developed a broad, coherently planned and highly effective personal development programme across the school."

Achievement - Expected standard. "Pupils generally secure the knowledge that they need to build their learning effectively across the curriculum and across year groups."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders have established an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum that supports pupils to develop their knowledge and skills across subjects over time."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Through the ‘belonging strategy', leaders have established an effective culture of inclusion at the school."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders have raised expectations and driven significant improvements across the school in recent years."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that the school's approach to the implementation of the curriculum is embedded consistently and effectively across the school"; "Leaders should ensure that strategies to monitor priority areas for improvement are sharply focused upon impact and that this is reflected in further improvements in pupils' experiences and achievement".

In 2026, pupils at Hummersknott Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 50.7, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 44.6 in Darlington and 47 across England.

58% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 42% in Darlington and 47% in England.

That is up from 47.8 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.48: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 44.2, against 52.2 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 8 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 24 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Design and Technology and French.

For September 2026 entry, 205 families put Hummersknott Academy as their first choice and 421 named it as one of their preferences, for 247 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 6 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Hummersknott Academy are Carmel College (0.4 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 52.7); Wyvern Academy (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 41.3); Polam Hall School (1.3 miles, Good, Attainment 8 45.9); and Longfield Academy (2.5 miles, Inadequate, Attainment 8 39.8).

Hummersknott Academy's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

Hummersknott Academy is one of 23 schools run by Advance Learning Partnership, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 45.3 in 2024/25.

168 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Hummersknott Academy (as of April 2026): 71% would recommend the school, 72% say their child is happy there and 77% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (77%); the weakest, that pupils behave well (60%).

Of the 253 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 87% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 30% to a further education college, 6% to an apprenticeship and 3% into work.

4.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (86%) and Asian (5%).

In 2026, 199 pupils (16.4%) received SEN support and 28 (2.3%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is autism.

The nearest railway station is Darlington Rail Station, about 1.9 miles away in a straight line.

14 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Edinburgh Drive (n bound), 130 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood Hummersknott Academy stands in is among the 10% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 27 crimes within a mile of the school, most often anti-social behaviour, violence and sexual offences and other theft. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Darlington (281).

In 2024/25, Hummersknott Academy issued 46 suspensions, 3.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 5 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Hummersknott Academy are Mowden Infant School (0.6 miles), Mowden Junior School (0.6 miles), Abbey Infants' School (0.7 miles) and Abbey Junior School (0.8 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.