Primary school in Sunderland
Highfield Academy
Fordfield Road, Ford Estate, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR4 0DA
Ofsted
Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 12 October 2022.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
Key stage 2 results 2024/25
Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Reached the higher standard
Average reading score
Average maths score
On the headline measure this school is in the top 10% of state-funded primaries in England.
Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top 10%.
There are no progress measures for primary schools any more. They were calculated from a key stage 1 baseline, and statutory key stage 1 tests ended in 2023, so nothing has been published since. That makes attainment the only official measure — and attainment tracks intake closely, which is why the comparison against similar schools above is the more useful of the two lines.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 443
- Places
- 420
- How full
- Full — 443 pupils against 420 places
- Girls / boys
- 220 / 223
- Overall absence
- 7%
- Persistently absent
- 22%
primary schools average 5.2%
primary schools average 12.8% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 53%
- English as an additional language
- 13%
- With an EHC plan
- 2%
- On SEN support
- 26%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Sunderland 012B, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.
- Adults with a degree
- 16%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 37%
- Households owning their home
- 31%
- Households in social housing
- 50%
- Households with no car
- 53%
- Adults economically inactive
- 55%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- Ages 2–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- Yes
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- IRIS LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Acting Head Teacher: Melanie Davies
- Local authority
- Sunderland
- Ward
- Pallion
- Constituency
- Sunderland Central
- URN
- 144219
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest primary schools
| School | Ofsted | Expected standard | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Anne's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2022 | 83% | 0.5 mi |
| Broadway Junior SchoolCommunity school | Good 2023 | 55% | 0.7 mi |
| Diamond Hall Infant AcademyAcademy converter | No grade | — | 0.8 mi |
| South Hylton Primary AcademyAcademy converter | No grade | 69% | 0.8 mi |
| Diamond Hall Junior AcademyAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 68% | 0.8 mi |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, SunderlandAcademy converter | No grade | 90% | 0.8 mi |
| St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, SunderlandAcademy converter | No grade | 74% | 0.9 mi |
| Castletown Primary SchoolCommunity school | Good 2022 | 76% | 0.9 mi |
Schools with a similar intake
State-funded primary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.
| School | Ofsted | Expected standard |
|---|---|---|
| Berger Primary SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 69% |
| Nightingale Primary SchoolCommunity school | Good 2023 | 61% |
| Grange Primary SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 67% |
| Cubitt Town Primary SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 63% |
| Marner Primary SchoolCommunity school | Good 2022 | 69% |
| Manorfield Primary SchoolCommunity school | Good 2024 | 77% |
| St Mary's RC Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2023 | 58% |
| St Augustines Federated Schools: CofE Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | No grade | 52% |
Where these figures come from
- School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
- Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25.
- Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
- Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
- Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.
All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.