Schools in Sunderland
122 schools in the Sunderland local authority.
Schools
122
Open schools
Pupils
41,439
2025–26 census
Good or better
98%
100 of 102 graded
Academic Performance
5.6
out of 10 · 115 schools
Ofsted ratings
- Outstanding
- 14 14%
- Good
- 86 84%
- Requires improvement
- 2 2%
- Inadequate
- 0 0%
9 inspected since 2024, no overall grade10 superseded by a report card11 not judged
5.6
Academic PerformanceAveraged over 115 of 122 schools that can be scored
Pupils
41,439
pupils on roll
Boys 51%49% Girls
Ethnicity
White
85%Asian
5%Black
6%Mixed
3%Chinese
<1%Any other group
<1%Unclassified
<1%Ethnicity from 116 of 122 schools (41,019 pupils). Independent schools report roll and sex only.
Pupil characteristics
- Free school meals
- 31.9%
- First language not English
- 8.4%
- Young carers
- <1%
13,091 of 41,019 pupils · 116 of 122 schools
3,443 of 41,019 pupils · 116 of 122 schools
164 of 40,162 pupils · 109 of 122 schools
Schools by phase
- Primary
- 81
- Secondary
- 18
- All-through
- 1
- Special
- 9
- Nursery
- 7
- PRU
- 3
- Not recorded
- 3
Top primary schools in Sunderland
The 20 highest-scoring primary schools here on Academic Performance, which combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment.
- 1.Bernard Gilpin Primary SchoolSunderland · Primary9.9/10Outstanding
- 2.Barnwell AcademySunderland · Primary9.8/10Outstanding
- 3.Bexhill AcademySunderland · Primary9.7/10Outstanding
- 4.Fulwell Junior SchoolSunderland · Primary9.6/10Outstanding
- 5.St John Boste Catholic Primary School, WashingtonSunderland · Primary9.6/10Outstanding
- 6.St Paul's CofE Primary SchoolSunderland · Primary9.5/10Outstanding
- 7.Benedict Biscop Church of England AcademySunderland · Primary9.0/10
- 8.Rickleton Primary SchoolSunderland · Primary9.0/10
- 9.St Leonard's Catholic Primary School, SilksworthSunderland · Primary9.0/10Good
- 10.St Mary's Catholic Primary School, SunderlandSunderland · Primary9.0/10Good
- 11.Fatfield AcademySunderland · Primary8.8/10Good
- 12.St Anne's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolSunderland · Primary8.6/10Good
- 13.St Benet's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary SchoolSunderland · Primary8.5/10Good
- 14.St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, SunderlandSunderland · Primary8.4/10Good
- 15.Mill Hill Primary SchoolSunderland · Primary8.3/10Good
- 16.Valley Road AcademySunderland · Primary8.3/10Good
- 17.John F Kennedy Primary SchoolSunderland · Primary8.0/10Good
- 18.St Michael's Catholic Primary School, HoughtonSunderland · Primary8.0/10Good
- 19.Northern Saints Church of England AcademySunderland · Primary7.8/10Good
- 20.East Rainton Primary SchoolSunderland · Primary7.6/10Good
Top secondary schools in Sunderland
The highest-scoring secondary schools here on Academic Performance, which combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment.
- 1.St Aidan's Catholic AcademySunderland · Secondary8.3/10
- 2.Hetton AcademySunderland · Secondary8.2/10
- 3.St Anthony's Girls' Catholic AcademySunderland · Secondary7.4/10Good
- 4.Southmoor AcademySunderland · Secondary7.1/10Good
- 5.St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, WashingtonSunderland · Secondary7.1/10Good
- 6.Red House AcademySunderland · Secondary6.1/10Good
- 7.Monkwearmouth AcademySunderland · Secondary5.9/10Good
- 8.Venerable Bede Church of England AcademySunderland · Secondary3.9/10
- 9.Christ's CollegeSunderland · Secondary3.8/10Good
- 10.KepierSunderland · Secondary3.5/10Good
- 11.Biddick AcademySunderland · Secondary3.3/10Good
- 12.Castle View Enterprise AcademySunderland · Secondary3.3/10Good
- 13.Sandhill View AcademySunderland · Secondary3.0/10Good
- 14.Oxclose Community AcademySunderland · Secondary2.8/10
- 15.Thornhill AcademySunderland · Secondary2.5/10Good
- 16.Academy 360Sunderland · Secondary1.2/10Good
- 17.Farringdon Community AcademySunderland · Secondary0.6/10Requires improvement
- 18.Washington AcademySunderland · Secondary0.1/10Requires improvement
Browse all 122 schools in Sunderland — filter by phase or Ofsted rating.
About schools in Sunderland
- How many schools are there in Sunderland?
- Sunderland has 122 open schools — 81 primary, 18 secondary, 9 special, 7 nursery, teaching 41,439 pupils in total.
- How many schools in Sunderland are rated Good or Outstanding?
- 100 of the 102 schools holding an Ofsted grade — 98% — are rated Good or Outstanding, including 14 rated Outstanding. That share is measured against graded schools, not all 122: a school inspected since September 2024 has no overall grade at all.
- What is the average Academic Performance in Sunderland?
- 5.6 out of 10, averaged across the 115 schools here that can be scored, where 5 is the national average. Academic Performance combines the Ofsted judgement with DfE attainment and is ranked against comparable schools, so it is neither figure on its own.
- Why do some Sunderland schools have no Ofsted rating?
- 20 schools in Sunderland currently hold no overall grade. Ofsted stopped awarding single-word judgements in September 2024 and moved to a report card of separately graded areas, so schools inspected since then have no overall rating whatever the inspection found. Their profiles show the report card instead.
- What does Sunderland local authority do?
- A local authority is the body responsible for state education in its area — the level most admissions and school-place decisions are made at. Sunderland covers 122 schools and sits in the North East region. It does not run academies or independent schools directly, though it still coordinates admissions for most of them.
- How many pupils in Sunderland are eligible for free school meals?
- 31.9% — 13,091 of 41,019 pupils at the 116 schools that report it. Independent schools file a return with roll and sex only, so they are outside this figure rather than counted as zero.
Part of the North East region.