St James' Church of England Primary School
Primary · Voluntary aided school · Ages 4–11 · Darwen, Blackburn with Darwen
Last distance offered · Reception 2026
0.917 miles
Published by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council · offers on 16 April 2026
Nearby schools' earlier years 🔒
St James' Church of England Primary School is a primary school in Darwen, Blackburn with Darwen for ages 4–11 (voluntary aided school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is Not judged, from the inspection on 29 October 2024. Blackburn with Darwen has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2026 entry.
St James' Church of England Primary School catchment area: last distance offered
Parents often call this the catchment area: it's how far from the school the last child offered a place lived. It changes every year.
| Entry | Last distance offered |
|---|---|
| Reception 2026 | 0.917 mi |
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- In 2024/25, 50% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (England 62%), and 4% reached the higher standard (England 8%).
- The 2026 Reception last distance offered, 0.917 miles, was the 6th longest of the 14 Blackburn with Darwen primary schools with a published Reception 2026 last distance.
- For Reception 2026 there were 31 first-choice applications for 30 offers; 28 offers went to first-choice families and 3 first-choice families (10%) were not offered a place.
- Free school meal eligibility is 25.2% and there are 24 pupils per teacher, against middle figures of 40.6% and 21.6 across the 8 nearest primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen.
Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Blackburn with Darwen schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.
Key facts
- Address
- Off Stopes Brow, Lower Darwen, Darwen, BB3 0QP
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- 4–11
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Council
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Pupils on roll
- 202 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 25.2% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 24
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
Not judged Inspected 29 October 2024
Strengths
- “Pupils, and children in the early years, love being members of this caring and friendly school.”
- “Their well-being is at the heart of all aspects of the school’s work.”
- “Pupils know that staff are always there to talk to.”
To improve
- “However, in some areas of the early years curriculum, this process is still being refined.”
- “In these aspects of learning, the knowledge that children should learn has not been identified precisely enough.”
- “This makes it difficult for the school to check that the curriculum in the early years is consistently building on what children know and can do.”
Safeguarding: Effective
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 9 December 2024 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Exam results
| Measure | School | England |
|---|---|---|
| Key stage 2 · reading, writing and maths, expected standard (2024/25) | 50% | 62% |
Department for Education school performance data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Applications and offers
- 2026 Reception entry: 31 first-preference applications, 30 offers in total, 28 offers to first-preference applicants.
Department for Education, school-level applications and offers, figures on national offer day. Earlier years are in the pass.
Nearby primary schools
Straight-line distance, in Blackburn with Darwen.
- Lower Darwen Primary School 0.4 mi Good Last distance published
- Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn 0.6 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Longshaw Infant School 0.8 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Longshaw Community Junior School 1.0 mi School remains Good
- Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary 1.0 mi Not judged Last distance published
- Shadsworth Junior School 1.1 mi Standards maintained
- St Edward's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy 1.2 mi No Ofsted grade
- St Mary's and St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn 1.2 mi School remains Good