Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy

Blackburn with Darwen · BB3 0EY

General information Primary School · 3-11 years Who goes here 203 pupils, 41.5% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 18.7% on SEN support Behaviour 7.5% absence rate Staff 17.4% turnover Financials £8,120 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy

General Information

Address: St James Crescent, Darwen, BB3 0EY – View on map
Phone: 01254703260
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Miss Laura Peckson
Age range: 3-11 years
Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 28 families put it first for 29 places – 10 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 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

203 pupils out of 265 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 66
% eligible for free school meals: 41.5%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the Blackburn with Darwen average)
English as an additional language: 34% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 17.4% a year (Blackburn with Darwen 12.9%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 16% moved to another school, 84% 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 Blackburn with Darwen: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 3 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 10 (0.6 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 1 (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 Blackburn with Darwen, 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: 7.5%
Persistently absent pupils: 33.3%
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: 18.7%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 5.4%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 24 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 10 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Vision impairment: 1 pupil

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 4 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 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

No overall grade given 2025 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 37% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 26 percentage points below the Blackburn with Darwen average (63%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Well below (3-year average 27% against an expected 45%)
3-year average (expected standard): 27%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 53% · Writing 47% · Maths 63% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 42%
Average test scores: reading 99, maths 100
Based on: 19 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 schoolBlackburn with Darwen averageEngland↗ Improving Up 18 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 26 percentage points below the Blackburn with Darwen average (63%).

Year 6 SATs: 50th of 52 junior and primary schools in the area

#48Meadowhead Junior School40%
#49St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School38%
#50Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy37%
#51St Aidan's Primary School - A Church of England Academy23%
#52St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School10%

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

#1Turton Belmont Community Primary School100%
#2The Olive School, Blackburn98%
#3Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary85%
#4Wensley Fold CofE Primary Academy83%
#5Lammack Primary School81%
#6Brookhouse Primary School80%
#7Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn79%
#8Daisyfield Primary School78%
#9Griffin Park Primary School75%
=10Audley Junior School73%
=10Belthorn Academy Primary School73%
=12Avondale Primary School72%
=12Blackburn St Thomas' Church of England Primary School72%
=14Cedars Primary School70%
=14St Barnabas and St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School70%
=14St Edward's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy70%
=14St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen70%
=18St Gabriel's Church of England Primary School69%
=18St Michael With St John CofE Primary School69%
#20Longshaw Community Junior School67%
=21Ashleigh Primary School66%
=21Roe Lee Park Primary School66%
=21St James' Church of England Primary School Blackburn66%
#24Darwen, St Barnabas CofE Primary Academy65%
#25Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary64%
=26St Mary's and St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn63%
=26St Stephen's Church of England Primary School63%
=28Holy Trinity VC School62%
=28St Alban's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn62%
=30Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn60%
=30Livesey Saint Francis' Church of England School60%
=30Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn60%
=30Shadsworth Junior School60%
=34St Anne's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn59%
=34St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School, Feniscowles, Blackburn59%
=34St Silas's CofE Primary School59%
=37Feniscowles Primary School56%
=37St Peter's Roman Catholic Primary School, Blackburn56%
#39St Matthew's Church of England Primary School53%
=40St Antony's RC Primary School50%
=40St James' Church of England Primary School50%
#42Intack Primary School47%
#43St Luke and St Philips Church of England Primary School46%
#44Queen Elizabeth's Primary School45%
#45Darwen St Peter's Church of England Primary School43%
=46Hoddlesden St Paul's Church of England Primary School41%
=46Lower Darwen Primary School41%
#48Meadowhead Junior School40%
#49St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School38%
#50Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy37%
#51St Aidan's Primary School - A Church of England Academy23%
#52St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School10%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £8,120 (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.

6th of 49 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for spending per pupil

#4Holy Trinity VC School£8,667
#5Turton Belmont Community Primary School£8,547
#6Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy£8,120
#7Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary£8,106
#8St Alban's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn£7,976

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 Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School£10,089
#2Shadsworth Infant School£9,112
#3St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School£8,695
#4Holy Trinity VC School£8,667
#5Turton Belmont Community Primary School£8,547
#6Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy£8,120
#7Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary£8,106
#8St Alban's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn£7,976
#9St Antony's RC Primary School£7,842
#10St Matthew's Church of England Primary School£7,819
#11Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn£7,610
#12Livesey Saint Francis' Church of England School£7,601
#13St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen£7,548
#14St Luke and St Philips Church of England Primary School£7,402
#15Brookhouse Primary School£7,362
#16St Aidan's Primary School - A Church of England Academy£7,290
#17St Mary's and St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn£7,218
#18St Barnabas and St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£7,170
#19St James' Church of England Primary School£7,160
#20Intack Primary School£7,093
#21St Anne's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn£7,061
#22Roe Lee Park Primary School£6,959
#23Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn£6,903
#24St Michael With St John CofE Primary School£6,776
#25Griffin Park Primary School£6,730
#26Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn£6,723
#27Daisyfield Primary School£6,709
#28Avondale Primary School£6,671
#29Hoddlesden St Paul's Church of England Primary School£6,583
#30Darwen St Peter's Church of England Primary School£6,583
#31St Stephen's Church of England Primary School£6,552
#32Ashleigh Primary School£6,463
#33St Peter's Roman Catholic Primary School, Blackburn£6,458
#34Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary£6,400
#35Cedars Primary School£6,398
#36Lower Darwen Primary School£6,351
#37St Edward's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy£6,338
#38St Gabriel's Church of England Primary School£6,223
#39Blackburn St Thomas' Church of England Primary School£6,210
#40St James' Church of England Primary School Blackburn£6,137
#41St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School, Feniscowles, Blackburn£6,088
#42The Olive School, Blackburn£6,086
#43Wensley Fold CofE Primary Academy£6,068
#44Belthorn Academy Primary School£5,992
#45Feniscowles Primary School£5,922
#46St Silas's CofE Primary School£5,771
#47Lammack Primary School£5,546
#48Darwen, St Barnabas CofE Primary Academy£5,010
#49Queen Elizabeth's Primary School£4,564

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

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