Photo: peter robinson · CC BY-SA 2.0People in School Aycliffe live longer than across England: 80.7 for men and 84.8 for women
England as a whole stood at 79.1 and 83.0 over 2019 to 2023. School Aycliffe grades B− for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age.
School Aycliffe grades B− for health
Healthier than 50% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
What holds the grade back: preventable deaths and deaths under 75 (better than 28% and 36% of UK towns). What lifts it: disability (84%) and women’s life expectancy (68%). Among the 1,215 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, School Aycliffe’s Health Grade is the 842nd highest.
Each measure is ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, the ranks are averaged, and the average is ranked again. Every measure allows for the town’s ages: life expectancy is worked out from the death rate at each age, so it doesn’t depend on how old the town’s residents are; deaths and admissions are counted against what England’s rates would give a town with these ages, and the Census answers against England and Wales’s rates by single year of age, so a seaside town of retired people isn’t marked down for being old.
Care in and near School Aycliffe
The nearest A&E, GP practices, and where to go when it’s urgent but not an emergency. In an emergency, call 999.
County Durham and Darlington saw 58% of major-A&E patients within four hours
Type 1 (major) A&E attendances seen, admitted or discharged within four hours of arrival, by month. NHS England publishes it by trust, not hospital: County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust runs the A&E at Darlington Memorial Hospital, the nearest to School Aycliffe (5.5 mi).
The share seen within four hours slipped from an average of 62% in April 2025 to September 2025 to 58% in the latest six months; England’s was 62%. Long waits for a bed are rarer than at 90% of trusts: 349 patients in 12 months, 0.7% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for Darlington Memorial Hospital: urgent and emergency services good (2025), the hospital overall good (2026).
North East and Yorkshire trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 mi | Darlington Memorial Hospital A&E Darlington · County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | Good2026 | Good2025 |
| 10 mi | University Hospital of North Tees A&E Stockton On Tees · North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2022 | Good2018 |
| 13 mi | University Hospital North Durham A&E Durham · County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | Good2026 | Good2025 |
| 15 mi | Peterlee Community Hospital Peterlee · County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 16 mi | The James Cook University Hospital A&E Middlesbrough · South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Good2024 | Good2023 |
| 16 mi | University Hospital of Hartlepool Hartlepool · North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2022 | — |
| 20 mi | Friarage Hospital Northallerton · South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Good2024 | — |
| 20 mi | Shotley Bridge Community Hospital Durham · County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
NHS acute hospitals registered with the Care Quality Commission (care directory, 01 October 2026). “A&E” marks a major (type 1) emergency department, open 24 hours and led by consultants, in NHS England’s Emergency Care Data Set; a hospital without the mark may still have a minor injury unit or urgent treatment centre. Ratings run Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement, Inadequate; the year is when each was published. Distances are straight lines from the town centre.
No GP practice in School Aycliffe itself
The nearest practices.
| Practice | Distance | CQC rating |
|---|---|---|
| Peaseway Medical Centre Newton Aycliffe DL5 5NH | 1.3 mi | Good2016 |
| Bewick Crescent Surgery Newton Aycliffe DL5 5LH | 1.4 mi | Good2024 |
| Jubilee Medical Group Newton Aycliffe DL5 4SE | 1.8 mi | Good2023 |
| Hallgarth Surgery Shildon DL4 2HP | 2.5 mi | Good2018 |
| Auckland Medical Group Bishop Auckland DL14 6RP | 4.2 mi | Good2018 |
| Station View Medical Centre Bishop Auckland DL14 6AB | 4.6 mi | Good2016 |
GP practices registered with the Care Quality Commission, placed in the town by their postcode. A practice counts as in School Aycliffe when its surgery is inside the built-up area; branch surgeries are part of their main practice. You can register with any practice whose area covers your address.
77% of adults in the North East and North Cumbria area who tried got an NHS dental appointment
Adults who tried to get an NHS dental appointment for themselves in the last two years, and got one. GP Patient Survey 2026, by integrated care system (the NHS area that plans dentistry for School Aycliffe).
Across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of North East and North Cumbria patients who did, 71% rated the experience good (England 74%). NHS practices taking new patients are listed on the NHS website’s Find a dentist; for urgent dental pain, call NHS 111.
The survey asks GP patients about dentistry, so results are published for health areas, not towns or practices.
More people in School Aycliffe call their health good than across County Durham
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Adjusted for age, 72 report bad health for every 100 expected, fewer than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | School Aycliffe | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 77% | 82% |
| Fair health | 9.7% | 15% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.9% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 14% | 22% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 6% | 10% | 7.4% |
County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
School Aycliffe’s Health Grade is 842nd of 1,215 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of School Aycliffe, and others in County Durham. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Deaths under 75 | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Keswick West Yorkshire | 1,145 | 86.0 / 88.4 | 45 | A+ |
| 2 | Bardsey West Yorkshire | 1,819 | 86.0 / 88.4 | 45 | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Basildon Berkshire | 1,074 | 86.0 / 87.7 | 51 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 399 | Heighington County Durham | 1,548 | 82.3 / 86.0 | 73 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 673 | Stillington County Durham | 1,407 | 81.6 / 86.4 | 74 | B |
| … | |||||
| 789 | Bishop Middleham County Durham | 1,136 | 80.5 / 85.1 | 81 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 840 | Starcross Devon | 1,687 | 79.9 / 84.6 | 87 | B− |
| 841 | Ranskill Nottinghamshire | 1,435 | 79.4 / 84.9 | 84 | B− |
| 842 | School Aycliffe County Durham | 1,590 | 80.7 / 84.8 | 90 | B− |
| 843 | Corton Suffolk | 1,134 | 79.3 / 84.5 | 78 | B− |
| 844 | Portreath Cornwall | 1,218 | 80.0 / 84.6 | 84 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 1215 | Toll Bar South Yorkshire | 1,213 | 73.1 / 77.6 | 179 | D− |
Health letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only. Welsh towns are graded on life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and the two Census measures: OHID’s early-death, admissions and child-obesity figures cover England.
Health in the places around School Aycliffe
Life expectancy for men / women, and the nearest A&E. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | People | Life expectancy | Nearest A&E | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| School Aycliffe | 1,590 | 80.7 / 84.8 | 5.5 mi | B− |
| Heighington | 1,548 | 82.3 / 86.0 | 4.9 mi | A− |
| Newton Aycliffe | 25,760 | 77.2 / 80.4 | 6.5 mi | D |
| Shildon | 9,650 | 75.9 / 77.7 | 7.5 mi | D− |
| Coundon and Leeholme | 2,522 | 75.2 / 78.6 | 8.8 mi | D− |
| Chilton | 4,693 | 74.3 / 80.8 | 8.9 mi | D |
| Bishop Auckland | 23,359 | 75.3 / 79.5 | 9.6 mi | D |
| West Auckland | 3,107 | 79.1 / 81.2 | 9.4 mi | D |
Chilton, 4.1 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 74.3, 6.4 years shorter than School Aycliffe’s.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A&E figures are for the trust. NHS England publishes four-hour waits by trust, not hospital, so County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust’s figures cover every major A&E it runs. They count type 1 (major) departments; minor injury units and urgent treatment centres are left out, which is why they sit below the all-types figure NHS England headlines (75% for England).
- Adjusted for age. A ratio of 100 means as many deaths, admissions or reports of bad health as England’s rates (England and Wales’s for the Census) would give a town with these ages; 120 means a fifth more.
- Small areas, summed to the town. OHID publishes these figures for middle-layer areas of about 8,000 people; the town’s figure averages the areas it covers, weighted by how many of their residents live in it, so a village shares its area’s figure with the countryside around it.
- Different years. Life expectancy and deaths cover 2019 to 2023; emergency admissions 2016/17 to 2020/21 (the latest OHID publishes for small areas, including the pandemic dip); child obesity the three school years to 2024/25; A&E the 12 months to September 2026; the GP Patient Survey early 2026; CQC ratings were published on different dates, shown in each row.
- Distances are straight lines. Miles are measured from the town’s centre to each site; the road is longer. For an emergency, call 999; for urgent advice, call NHS 111.
Questions about health in School Aycliffe
How healthy is School Aycliffe?
School Aycliffe earns a B− for health, healthier than 50% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 842nd of 1,215 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 80.7 for men and 84.8 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 90 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
How long are A&E waits at Darlington Memorial Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 58% of major-A&E patients within four hours, against 61% across England; in September 2026 the figure was 59%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in School Aycliffe?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 77% of adults in the North East and North Cumbria area who tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years got one, against 82% across England. Practices taking new NHS patients are listed on the NHS website’s Find a dentist service.
How many GP practices are there in School Aycliffe?
There’s no GP surgery inside School Aycliffe itself; the nearest is about 1.3 mi away.
What is the life expectancy in School Aycliffe?
80.7 years for men and 84.8 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 66.3 of those years and women 67.7 in good health.
CQC ratings © Care Quality Commission.
Sources: OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (life expectancy and deaths 2019–23, emergency admissions 2016/17–2020/21, NCMP 2022/23–2024/25); House of Commons Library MSOA names · ONS health state life expectancy for small areas (MSOAs), England and Wales, 2019 to 2023 (healthy life expectancy) · ONS Census 2021 general health and disability, adjusted for age · Care Quality Commission care directory and latest ratings, 01 October 2026 · NHS Organisation Data Service · GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos) · NHS England, A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions (monthly, by trust) and Emergency Care Data Set activity by site, June–September 2026 (type 1 A&Es) · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025 · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.