Polam Hall School

GCSE results 2024/25

On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is middle, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

Pupils

Pupils on roll

842

Places

882

How full

Nearly full — 842 of 882 places taken

Girls / boys

456 / 386

Overall absence

8%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent

23%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years

30%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language

14%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan

3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support

11%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training

94%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education

85%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship

4%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form

4%

No sustained destination

3%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort

67

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Darlington 014A, 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

40%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications

13%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home

63%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing

3%

England 17%

Households with no car

29%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive

34%

England 39.9%

School details

Type

Free schools

Phase

All-through

Ages

Ages 4–16

Gender

Mixed

Religious character

None

Sixth form

No

Nursery

No

Boarding

Day school

Trust

WOODARD ACADEMIES TRUST

Headteacher

Headteacher: Kate Reid

Local authority

Darlington

Ward

Park West

Constituency

Darlington

URN

142174

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest all-through schools

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded all-through 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.