Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School

Hyndburn · BB5 1DW

General information Primary School · 5-11 years Who goes here 176 pupils, 47.2% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 18.8% on SEN support Behaviour 6.2% absence rate Staff 25.1% turnover Financials £8,015 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School

General Information

Address: Devonshire Street, Accrington, BB5 1DW – View on map
Phone: 01254232329
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Helen Victoria Bird
Age range: 5-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 21 families put it first for 27 places – 8 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 7 · 2024 10 · 2025 9 · 2026 8
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

176 pupils out of 210 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 83
% eligible for free school meals: 47.2%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the Hyndburn average)
English as an additional language: 29% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 25.1% a year (Hyndburn 16.7%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 30% moved to another school, 70% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Lancashire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 9 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 3
Suspensions for bullying: 18 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 7 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state primary schools in Lancashire (the council area this school is in), not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 6.2%
Persistently absent pupils: 19.4%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 18.8%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.8%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 16 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 8 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 6 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 3 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card January 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Needs attention
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Urgent improvement
Leadership and governance Needs attention

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2021). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 58% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 4 percentage points above the Hyndburn average (54%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 48% against an expected 61%)
3-year average (expected standard): 48%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 73% · Writing 58% · Maths 73% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 65%
Average test scores: reading 104, maths 102
Based on: 26 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

SATs results over time

This schoolHyndburn averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 4 percentage points above the Hyndburn average (54%).

Year 6 SATs: 16th of 33 junior and primary schools in the area

=13Rishton St Peter and St Paul's Church of England Primary School60%
#15Great Harwood St Bartholomew's Parish Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School59%
#16Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School58%
#17Accrington Peel Park Primary School57%
#18Accrington Huncoat Primary School56%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Rishton Methodist Primary School79%
#2Clayton-le-Moors All Saints' Church of England Primary School78%
=3Accrington Benjamin Hargreaves Church of England Primary School74%
=3St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Oswaldtwistle74%
#5Oswaldtwistle Moor End Primary School73%
#6Baxenden St John's Church of England Primary School72%
#7Oswaldtwistle Hippings Methodist Voluntary Controlled Primary School69%
=8St Nicholas Church of England Primary School68%
=8St Oswald's Roman Catholic Primary School, Accrington68%
=10Altham St James Church of England Primary School64%
=10St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Clayton-le-Moors64%
#12Oswaldtwistle St Paul's Church of England Primary School63%
=13Clayton-le-Moors Mount Pleasant Primary School60%
=13Rishton St Peter and St Paul's Church of England Primary School60%
#15Great Harwood St Bartholomew's Parish Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School59%
#16Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School58%
#17Accrington Peel Park Primary School57%
#18Accrington Huncoat Primary School56%
#19St Hubert's Roman Catholic Primary School, Great Harwood54%
#20Great Harwood Primary School52%
#21St Peter's CofE Primary School50%
#22Accrington Woodnook Primary School48%
#23Great Harwood St John's Church of England Primary School44%
=24Accrington Hyndburn Park Primary School42%
=24Oswaldtwistle West End Primary School42%
#26Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, Church40%
#27Oswaldtwistle St Andrew's Church of England Primary School39%
=28Knuzden St Oswald's Church of England Primary Academy36%
=28St Anne's and St Joseph's RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy36%
#30St Wulstan's Roman Catholic Primary School, Great Harwood27%
#31Accrington St John with St Augustine Church of England Primary School24%
#32Accrington Spring Hill Community Primary School23%
#33Green Haworth Church of England Primary School8%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,015 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

8th of 33 primary schools in Hyndburn for spending per pupil

#6St Oswald's Roman Catholic Primary School, Accrington£8,115
#7Rishton Methodist Primary School£8,028
#8Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School£8,015
#9St Nicholas Church of England Primary School£7,801
#10Oswaldtwistle Moor End Primary School£7,711

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1St Peter's CofE Primary School£9,688
#2Green Haworth Church of England Primary School£9,329
#3St Anne's and St Joseph's RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy£8,586
#4Oswaldtwistle St Paul's Church of England Primary School£8,561
#5Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, Church£8,299
#6St Oswald's Roman Catholic Primary School, Accrington£8,115
#7Rishton Methodist Primary School£8,028
#8Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School£8,015
#9St Nicholas Church of England Primary School£7,801
#10Oswaldtwistle Moor End Primary School£7,711
#11Accrington Spring Hill Community Primary School£7,681
#12Oswaldtwistle St Andrew's Church of England Primary School£7,651
#13Accrington St John with St Augustine Church of England Primary School£7,539
#14Altham St James Church of England Primary School£7,532
#15Accrington Woodnook Primary School£7,420
#16St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Clayton-le-Moors£7,407
#17St Wulstan's Roman Catholic Primary School, Great Harwood£7,352
#18Great Harwood Primary School£7,296
#19Knuzden St Oswald's Church of England Primary Academy£7,284
#20Great Harwood St Bartholomew's Parish Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£7,269
#21Clayton-le-Moors Mount Pleasant Primary School£7,209
#22Great Harwood St John's Church of England Primary School£7,171
#23Rishton St Peter and St Paul's Church of England Primary School£7,135
#24Accrington Huncoat Primary School£7,105
#25Accrington Peel Park Primary School£6,795
#26Accrington Hyndburn Park Primary School£6,661
#27St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Oswaldtwistle£6,598
#28Accrington Benjamin Hargreaves Church of England Primary School£6,590
#29Oswaldtwistle Hippings Methodist Voluntary Controlled Primary School£6,346
#30St Hubert's Roman Catholic Primary School, Great Harwood£6,203
#31Clayton-le-Moors All Saints' Church of England Primary School£6,188
#32Baxenden St John's Church of England Primary School£6,057
#33Oswaldtwistle West End Primary School£5,833

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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