St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen
Primary · Voluntary aided school · Ages 4–11 · DARWEN, Blackburn with Darwen
Last distance offered · Reception 2026
Every applicant was offered a place
From Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council · offers on 16 April 2026
Nearby schools' earlier years 🔒
St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen is a primary school in DARWEN, Blackburn with Darwen for ages 4–11 (voluntary aided school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is Standards maintained, from the inspection on 15 January 2025. Blackburn with Darwen has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2026 entry.
St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen 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 | Every applicant was offered a place |
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- In 2024/25, 70% met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, the 2nd highest of 9 schools: this one and the 8 nearest primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen.
- Every Reception applicant was offered a place in 2026, as at 29 of the 43 other Blackburn with Darwen primary schools with a published Reception 2026 outcome.
- Reception 2026 had 14 first-choice applications for 16 offers; every first-choice family was offered a place, and 2 offers went to families who ranked it second or lower.
- 15.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, against a middle figure of 34% 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
- Limes Avenue, DARWEN, BB3 2SG
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- 4–11
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Council
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Pupils on roll
- 165 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 15.2% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 18.3
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
Standards maintained Inspected 15 January 2025
Strengths
- “Pupils appreciate all the qualities of St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School.”
- “Staff take time to get to know pupils and their families well.”
- “They genuinely care about pupils and their well-being.”
To improve
- “However, some of the 2024 Year 6 published results from national assessments do not reflect these improvements to the curriculum or how well current pupils are learning.”
- “However, sometimes the checks teachers make on pupils’ learning do not identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge or enable pupils to learn more if they are ready to do so.”
- “This means that, on occasion, misconceptions persist.”
Safeguarding: Effective
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 5 March 2025 (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) | 70% | 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: 14 first-preference applications, 16 offers in total, 14 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.
- Holy Trinity VC School 0.4 mi Not judged Last distance published
- Darwen St Peter's Church of England Primary School 0.6 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Ashleigh Primary School 0.6 mi School remains Good
- Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary 0.7 mi No Ofsted grade Last distance published
- Darwen, St Barnabas CofE Primary Academy 0.9 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy 0.9 mi Not judged Last distance published
- Avondale Primary School 1.0 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School 1.3 mi Requires improvement Last distance published