Polam Hall School
All-through · Free schools · Ages 4–16 · Darlington
Last distance offered · Reception 2025
Every applicant was offered a place
From Darlington Borough Council · offers on 16 April 2025
Year 7 2025: Not published
2023 figure 🔒
Polam Hall School is an all-through school in Darlington for ages 4–16 (free schools). Darlington has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception and Year 7 2023 to 2025 entry.
Polam Hall School catchment area: last distance offered
Parents often call this the catchment area: it's how far from the school the last child offered a place lived. It changes every year.
| Entry | Last distance offered |
|---|---|
| Reception 2025 | Every applicant was offered a place |
| Year 7 2025 | Not published |
| Reception 2023 | 🔒 With a pass |
| Year 7 2023 | 🔒 With a pass |
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- Every Reception applicant was offered a place in 2025, and Reception 2026 had 43 first-choice applications for 45 offers.
- For Reception 2026, 40 offers went to first-choice families and 3 first-choice families (7%) were not offered a place; 5 offers went to families who ranked it second or lower.
- In the January 2026 census there were 842 pupils on roll, with 31.2% of them eligible for free school meals.
Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Darlington schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.
Key facts
- Address
- Grange Road, Darlington, DL1 5PA
- Type
- Free schools
- Phase
- All-through
- Ages
- 4–16
- Council
- Darlington
- Pupils on roll
- 842 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 31.2% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 18.4
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
No Ofsted grade Inspected 25 November 2025
Strengths
- “From the start of early years, pupils develop a positive view of their school.”
- “They forge warm, respectful relationships with teachers and support staff.”
- “Pupils feel safe and know who to turn to for advice and support should they need it.”
To improve
- “Leaders have identified the need for improvement in a few GCSE examination subjects for some cohorts of pupils.”
- “In these areas, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.”
- “Leaders recognise the need to strengthen consistency across the school so that all pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged, achieve as well as possible.”
Safeguarding: met
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 19 January 2026 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Exam results
| Measure | School | England |
|---|---|---|
| Key stage 2 · reading, writing and maths, expected standard (2024/25) | 59% | 62% |
| GCSE English and maths, grade 5 or above (2024/25) | 38% | 45% |
| Attainment 8 score (2024/25) | 44.6 | 46 |
Department for Education school performance data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Applications and offers
- 2026 Reception entry: 43 first-preference applications, 45 offers in total, 40 offers to first-preference applicants.
- 2026 Year 7 entry: 101 first-preference applications, 107 offers in total, 98 offers to first-preference applicants.
Department for Education, school-level applications and offers, figures on national offer day. Earlier years are in the pass.
Nearby special, independent and other schools
Straight-line distance, in Darlington.
- Marchbank Free School 1.5 mi Good
- Rise Carr College 1.6 mi Not judged
- Embleton View 1.9 mi No Ofsted grade
- Beaumont Hill Academy 2.0 mi School remains Good
- Hurworth House School Aspris Children's services 2.6 mi No Ofsted grade
- Pear Tree School 6.9 mi No Ofsted grade
- Oakwood Learning Centre 7.2 mi No Ofsted grade