Barrowford School

Pendle · BB9 6EA

General information Primary School · 4-11 years Who goes here 312 pupils, 44.2% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN SEN unit · 17.9% on SEN support Behaviour 11.3% absence rate Staff 17.6% turnover Financials £8,475 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Barrowford School

General Information

Address: Rushton Street, Barrowford, Nelson, BB9 6EA – View on map
Phone: 01282615644
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Rachel Tomlinson
Age range: 4-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 16 families put it first for 19 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 9 · 2024 9 · 2025 10 · 2026 8
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

312 pupils out of 420 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 138
% eligible for free school meals: 44.2%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the Pendle average)
English as an additional language: 15% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 17.6% a year (Pendle 11.8%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 36% moved to another school, 64% 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.

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: 11.3%
Persistently absent pupils: 40.9%
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

SEN unit for Social, emotional and mental health 16 places · 16 pupils at the last count

Places are usually for children with an EHC Plan and are arranged through the council, not the normal school application.

Pupils on SEN Support: 17.9%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 16.7%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Social, emotional and mental health: 17 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 17 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 9 pupils
SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 8 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 32 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 10 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 7 pupils
Physical disability: 3 pupils

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 April 2026

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

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

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Good (2022). 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: 50% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 12 percentage points below the Pendle average (62%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Below (3-year average 46% against an expected 55%)
3-year average (expected standard): 46%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 72% · Writing 50% · Maths 60% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 53%
Average test scores: reading 104, maths 102
Based on: 60 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 schoolPendle averageEngland↗ Improving Up 12 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 12 percentage points below the Pendle average (62%).

Year 6 SATs: 33rd of 36 junior and primary schools in the area

#31Higham St John's Church of England Primary School53%
#32West Street Community Primary School52%
#33Barrowford School50%
#34Great Marsden St John's Primary School A Church of England Academy40%
#35Coates Lane Primary School37%

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

#1Roughlee Church of England Primary School100%
#2Barrowford St Thomas Church of England Primary School88%
#3Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy86%
#4Newchurch-In-Pendle St Mary's Church of England Primary School83%
#5Lomeshaye Junior School80%
#6Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy78%
#7Trawden Forest Primary School76%
#8Blacko Primary School75%
#9Laneshaw Bridge Primary73%
#10Wheatley Lane Methodist Primary School72%
=11Earby Springfield Primary School67%
=11Gisburn Road Community Primary School67%
=11Kelbrook Primary School67%
=14Marsden Community Primary School65%
=14Walverden Primary School65%
=16Barnoldswick Church of England Controlled Primary School64%
=16Colne Lord Street School64%
=16Pendle Primary Academy64%
#19Salterforth Primary School62%
=20Colne Christ Church Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School61%
=20Reedley Primary School61%
=22Bradley Primary School60%
=22Colne Primet Primary School60%
=22St Joseph's Catholic primary School, a Voluntary Academy60%
=25Nelson St Paul's Church of England Primary School58%
=25Nelson St Philip's Church of England Primary School58%
=27Castercliff Primary School57%
=27Foulridge Saint Michael and All Angels CofE Voluntary Aided Primary School57%
=27Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School, Nelson57%
=27Park Primary School57%
#31Higham St John's Church of England Primary School53%
#32West Street Community Primary School52%
#33Barrowford School50%
#34Great Marsden St John's Primary School A Church of England Academy40%
#35Coates Lane Primary School37%
#36St John Southworth RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy18%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,475 (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.

4th of 35 primary schools in Pendle for spending per pupil

#2Roughlee Church of England Primary School£9,253
#3West Street Community Primary School£8,774
#4Barrowford School£8,475
#5Colne Primet Primary School£8,419
#6Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School, Nelson£7,970

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

#1Earby Springfield Primary School£9,527
#2Roughlee Church of England Primary School£9,253
#3West Street Community Primary School£8,774
#4Barrowford School£8,475
#5Colne Primet Primary School£8,419
#6Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School, Nelson£7,970
#7Blacko Primary School£7,911
#8Higham St John's Church of England Primary School£7,572
#9Gisburn Road Community Primary School£7,464
#10Park Primary School£7,452
#11St Joseph's Catholic primary School, a Voluntary Academy£7,400
#12Nelson St Philip's Church of England Primary School£7,382
#13Newchurch-In-Pendle St Mary's Church of England Primary School£7,364
#14St John Southworth RC Primary School, A Voluntary Academy£7,344
#15Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy£7,300
#16Colne Christ Church Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£7,285
#17Coates Lane Primary School£7,078
#18Kelbrook Primary School£7,057
#19Marsden Community Primary School£6,893
#20Foulridge Saint Michael and All Angels CofE Voluntary Aided Primary School£6,842
#21Bradley Primary School£6,756
#22Barrowford St Thomas Church of England Primary School£6,677
#23Trawden Forest Primary School£6,658
#24Nelson St Paul's Church of England Primary School£6,640
#25Castercliff Primary School£6,598
#26Salterforth Primary School£6,518
#27Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy£6,399
#28Reedley Primary School£6,361
#29Barnoldswick Church of England Controlled Primary School£6,334
#30Walverden Primary School£6,230
#31Great Marsden St John's Primary School A Church of England Academy£6,166
#32Colne Lord Street School£6,072
#33Laneshaw Bridge Primary£6,059
#34Pendle Primary Academy£6,019
#35Wheatley Lane Methodist Primary School£5,644

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

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