Northern Saints Church of England Academy, Sunderland

Ofsted's report card from its 27 January 2026 inspection grades Northern Saints Church of England Academy on 7 areas: 2 strong standard and 5 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Inclusion - Strong standard. "Inclusion is the heartbeat of the school."

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Pupils benefit from a well-planned and coherent personal development programme."

Achievement - Expected standard. "By the end of key stage 2, pupils' outcomes in reading and writing are typically close to the national average."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders have implemented robust systems to monitor and improve attendance."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Following a significant dip in pupils' outcomes, leaders have strengthened the teaching of phonics through the introduction of a new, systematic approach."

Early years - Expected standard. "Children in Reception make a steady and secure start to school life."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Trust leaders, trustees and the local academy council know the school well."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "• Leaders should ensure they support teachers to use assessment more effectively to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge and strengthen their learning. • Leaders should further embed recently introduced strategies so that the gaps in pupils' foundational knowledge, for example in phonics and handwriting, are closed quickly. • Leaders should ensure that learning activities in the early years are sufficiently challenging, enabling children to accelerate their learning".

In 2025, 75% of Year 6 pupils at Northern Saints Church of England Academy reached the expected standard in reading and 86% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 77% and 78% in Sunderland and 77% and 75% across England.

Results were similar in 2024 (77% in reading, 84% in maths).

For September 2026 entry, 61 families put Northern Saints Church of England Academy as their first choice and 72 named it as one of their preferences, for 68 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state primary schools to Northern Saints Church of England Academy are Willow Wood Community Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 88% reading, 88% maths); English Martyrs' Catholic Primary School, Sunderland (0.5 miles, 74% reading, 79% maths); Castletown Primary School (0.9 miles, Good, 82% reading, 82% maths); and St John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Town End Farm, Sunderland (1 mile, 64% reading, 64% maths).

Northern Saints Church of England Academy's 2025 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.

Northern Saints Church of England Academy is one of 22 schools run by Durham and Newcastle Diocesan Learning Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's primary schools, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.

47 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Northern Saints Church of England Academy (as of April 2026): 92% would recommend the school, 87% say their child is happy there and 70% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (92%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (70%).

58.9% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 6.9% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (81%) and Black (6%).

In 2026, 102 pupils (24.1%) received SEN support and 12 (2.8%) 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 speech, language and communication needs.

Northern Saints Church of England Academy has a resourced provision for speech, language and communication needs: 10 places, 10 pupils on roll.

The nearest tram or metro stop is Pallion (Tyne and Wear Metro Station), about 0.9 miles away in a straight line.

15 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Redcar Road-Rotherham Road (nw-bound), 90 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 226 crimes within a mile of the school, most often shoplifting, violence and sexual offences and anti-social behaviour. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Sunderland (148), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Northern Saints Church of England Academy issued 2 suspensions, 0.4 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The secondary schools closest to Northern Saints Church of England Academy are Red House Academy (0.5 miles) and Castle View Enterprise Academy (0.8 miles).