Ofsted: Outstanding trending_up Places Available emoji_events #112 in County Durham public Top 78% UK

Sugar Hill Primary School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMrs Paula O'Rourke

location_onNewton Aycliffe, DL5 5NU

language Visit Website phone 1325300334

verified

Ofsted

Outstanding

Inspected 2025

groups

Students

465

school

Expected Standard

52%

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Demand Ratio

1.0x

summarize

Sugar Hill Primary School is a Community school primary school in Newton Aycliffe, serving ages 3-11. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted — the highest possible grade. Ranks in the top 78% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

Sugar Hill Primary School is a community school in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, admitting pupils aged 3-11. The school has approximately 459 pupils on roll, of whom 31% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 52% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 5% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #112 of 185 primaries in County Durham and #9,056 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2025. The school's current overall rating is Outstanding. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Good, behaviour and attitudes Outstanding, personal development Outstanding, and leadership and management Outstanding.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 1.0× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 24.2:1. There is 1 teaching vacancy.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.3 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

52%

LA 60%

Reading72% LA 72%

Writing65% LA 72%

Maths80% LA 72%

Read SS

104

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

105

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

71%

LA 58%England 61%

Reading78% LA 73% · Eng 74%

Writing78% LA 71% · Eng 72%

Maths86% LA 70% · Eng 73%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

64%

LA 58%England 60%

Reading73% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing78% LA 71% · Eng 71%

Maths76% LA 71% · Eng 73%

Read SS

104

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

103

Progress (0 = national avg)

-2.7

Read

LA -0.6

-4.3 to -1.1

-0.9

Write

LA -0.1

-2.5 to 0.6

-1.9

Maths

LA -0.9

-3.4 to -0.4

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

85%

LA 65%England 65%

Reading93% LA 73% · Eng 73%

Writing87% LA 80% · Eng 78%

Maths90% LA 79% · Eng 79%

Read SS

106

Maths SS

107

GPS SS

107

Progress (0 = national avg)

2.8

Read

LA 0.1

1.2 to 4.3

1.8

Write

LA 0.6

0.4 to 3.2

3.2

Maths

LA 0.1

1.9 to 4.6

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

81%

LA 67%

Reading95% LA 77%

Writing83% LA 78%

Maths97% LA 78%

Read SS

108

Maths SS

109

GPS SS

110

Progress (0 = national avg)

4.5

Read

LA 0.7

3 to 6

1.9

Write

LA 0.6

0.4 to 3.4

5.6

Maths

LA 0.6

4.2 to 7

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

04 February 2025

Inspection Report

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03 October 2023

Inspection Report

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12 September 2017

Inspection Report

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16 May 2013

Inspection Report

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20 May 2010

Inspection Report

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01 March 2007

Inspection Report

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07 May 2002

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

3 Evaluations

2025-02-04

S5 Inspection EIF

Not Judged

info

Why no overall grade?

From autumn 2024, Ofsted stopped issuing a single headline grade (Outstanding / Good / RI / Inadequate). Instead, each inspection area is graded individually. This follows a major review after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2023. The overall effectiveness field is left as "Not judged" in the published data.

Education

Good

Behaviour

Outstanding

Development

Outstanding

Leadership

Outstanding

2017-09-12

Maintained Academy and School Short inspection Legacy

Outstanding

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Outstanding

2013-05-16

None Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.4%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.4%(2 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 459 pupils. During this period, there were 2 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.4%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	459	2	0.4%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	454	1	0.2%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	475	0	0.0%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	464	0	0.0%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	452	0	0.0%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	467	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	465	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	456	0	0.0%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	467	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	467	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	454	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	470	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	459	0	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	456	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	465	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	465	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	445	0	0.0%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	465	0	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	464	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	452	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	456	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	454	0	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	440	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	459	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	447	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	435	0	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Speech, Language & Communication 32 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 26 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 17 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 4 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 3 pupils

Physical Disability 2 pupils

Visual Impairment 1 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 1 pupils