St James' Church of England Primary Academy

Primary · Academy converter · Ages 4–11 · Bournemouth, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Last distance offered · Reception 2026

Every applicant was offered a place

From Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council · offers on 16 April 2026

2023–2025 trend 🔒

Nearby schools' earlier years 🔒

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St James' Church of England Primary Academy is a primary school in Bournemouth, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole for ages 4–11 (academy converter). Its latest Ofsted outcome is School remains Good, from the inspection on 25 January 2023. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole has published a last distance offered for this school for Reception 2023 to 2026 entry.

St James' Church of England Primary Academy 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
Reception 2025	🔒 With a pass
Reception 2024	🔒 With a pass
Reception 2023	🔒 With a pass

What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment

What the figures show

Every applicant was offered a Reception place in 2026, as at 35 of the 36 other Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole primary schools with a published outcome.
For Reception in 2026, 32 first-choice applications for 46 offers; every first-choice family was offered a place and 14 offers went to families who ranked it second or lower.
Places ran out (a last distance was published) in 1 of the 3 earlier Reception years, though not in 2026.

Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.

Key facts

Address: Pokesdown Hill, Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, BH7 6DW
Type: Academy converter
Phase: Primary
Ages: 4–11
Admissions policy: Non-selective
Religious character: Church of England
Council: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Pupils on roll: 404 January 2026 school census
Free school meals: 16.6% of pupils eligible
Pupils per teacher: 21.8

Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026

Ofsted

School remains Good Inspected 25 January 2023

Strengths

“Pupils are happy at the school.”
“Staff greet them warmly at the start of the day, playing music to welcome their arrival.”
“The whole school participates in celebratory ‘sign and sing’ collective worship.”

To improve

“However, in a few subjects, this work has only recently been completed and is yet to have its full impact.”
“In these subjects, pupils do not always have a secure knowledge base to draw on in their current learning.”
“However, leaders recognise that not all groups of pupils are well represented across these clubs.”

Safeguarding: Effective

Quoted from the Ofsted report published 20 March 2023 (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)	68%	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: 32 first-preference applications, 46 offers in total, 32 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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

Pokesdown Community Primary School 0.3 mi Good Last distance published
Avonwood Primary School 0.5 mi Outstanding Last distance published
Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School 0.5 mi Standards maintained Last distance published
Stourfield Infant School 0.6 mi Good Last distance published
Stourfield Junior School 0.6 mi Standards maintained
King's Park Academy 0.9 mi School remains Good Last distance published
St Clement's and St John's Church of England Infant School 1.2 mi School remains Good Last distance published
Bethany Church of England Junior School 1.3 mi Good