Lowerplace Primary School
Kingsway, Rochdale, OL16 4UU
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Ms Karen Martin
- Constituency
- Rochdale
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 570
- Pupils on roll
- 533
- URN
- 105777
- Local authority
- Rochdale
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01706648174
About this school
Lowerplace Primary School is a community primary school in Rochdale. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 533 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 4 July 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 58 | 59 | 87 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 57% | 39% | 41% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 0% | 1% |
| Expected standard in reading | 71% | 46% | 49% |
| Expected standard in maths | 71% | 56% | 60% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 74% | 58% | 60% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 98.0 | 100.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 100.0 | 101.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.80 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Lowerplace Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Rochdale average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 57% | 55.5% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 39% | 56.1% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 41% | 57.6% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 513 |
| 2023/24 | 553 |
| 2024/25 | 560 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Lowerplace Primary School compares
Lowerplace Primary School ranked 52nd of 55 primary schools in Rochdale for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 12% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41% | 6.5% | 38.8% | 533 | — |
| St Peter's Church of England Primary School | 53% | 4.8% | 45% | 455 | 0.2 miles |
| St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Balderstone | — | — | — | 208 | 0.3 miles |
| Deeplish Primary Academy | 71% | 5.2% | 38.2% | 452 | 0.4 miles |
| Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | — | — | — | 219 | 0.6 miles |
| St John's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | — | — | — | 213 | 0.7 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 38.75%
- English as an additional language
- 50%
- Overall absence
- 6.45%
- Persistent absence
- 20.71%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Peter's Church of England Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Rochdale
-
St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Balderstone0.3 miles
Primary · Rochdale
-
Deeplish Primary Academy0.4 miles
Primary · Rochdale
-
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy0.6 miles
Primary · Rochdale
-
St John's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy0.7 miles
Primary · Rochdale
Other schools in Rochdale
Lowerplace Primary School ranks 31st of the 32 ranked primary schools in Rochdale.
- Alice Ingham Roman Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Primary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School Primary
- Ashfield Valley Primary School Primary
- Belfield Community School Primary
- Brimrod Community Primary School Primary
- Broadfield Community Primary School Primary
- Caldershaw Primary School Primary
- Castleton Primary School Primary
- Crossgates Primary School Primary
- Deeplish Primary Academy Primary
- Greenbank Primary School Primary
- Hamer Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Lowerplace Primary School teach?
- Lowerplace Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Rochdale.
- Who is the headteacher of Lowerplace Primary School?
- The headteacher of Lowerplace Primary School is Ms Karen Martin, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Lowerplace Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Lowerplace Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Lowerplace Primary School?
- Lowerplace Primary School has 533 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Lowerplace Primary School full?
- Lowerplace Primary School has capacity for 570 pupils and 533 on roll (94%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Lowerplace Primary School a faith school?
- No. Lowerplace Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Lowerplace Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Lowerplace Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Lowerplace Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 57% in 2022/23 and 41% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Lowerplace Primary School rank locally?
- Lowerplace Primary School ranked 52nd of 55 primary schools in Rochdale for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 12% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 32% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Lowerplace Primary School's absence rate?
- Lowerplace Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Lowerplace Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Lowerplace Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.