Northowram Primary School
Baxter Lane, Northowram, Halifax, HX3 7EF
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Jane Scardifield
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Halifax
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 451
- URN
- 107486
- Local authority
- Calderdale
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01422202704
About this school
Northowram Primary School is a community primary school in Halifax. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 451 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 57 | 60 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 68% | 72% | 70% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 14% | 12% | 5% |
| Expected standard in reading | 82% | 90% | 88% |
| Expected standard in maths | 77% | 83% | 78% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 79% | 80% | 70% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 107.0 | 106.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 106.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.70 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.90 | - | - |
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 Northowram 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 | Calderdale average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 68% | 59.2% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 72% | 57.8% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 70% | 60.6% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 439 |
| 2023/24 | 452 |
| 2024/25 | 448 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Northowram Primary School compares
Northowram Primary School ranked 26th of 76 primary schools in Calderdale for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 66% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 79% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 70% | 4.2% | 12.8% | 451 | — |
| Salterlee Primary School | 42% | 6.3% | 16.9% | 74 | 0.4 miles |
| Shelf Junior and Infant School | 48% | 4.9% | 11.8% | 221 | 0.8 miles |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary Academy | 95% | 4.3% | 21.2% | 137 | 1.3 miles |
| St Michael and All Angels CofE Primary & Pre School | 60% | 4.5% | 18.2% | 192 | 1.4 miles |
| Trinity Academy Akroydon | 55% | 4.9% | 40.6% | 203 | 1.4 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 12.77%
- English as an additional language
- 0.7%
- Overall absence
- 4.21%
- Persistent absence
- 7.48%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Salterlee Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Halifax
-
Shelf Junior and Infant School0.8 miles
Primary · Halifax
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary Academy1.3 miles
Primary · Halifax
-
St Michael and All Angels CofE Primary & Pre School1.4 miles
Primary · Halifax
-
Trinity Academy Akroydon1.4 miles
Primary · Halifax
Other schools in Halifax
Northowram Primary School ranks 13th of the 41 ranked primary schools in Halifax.
- Abbey Park Academy Primary
- All Saints' CofE Primary School Primary
- Ash Green Community Primary School Primary
- Barkisland CofE VA Primary School Primary
- Beech Hill School Primary
- Bowling Green Academy Primary
- Bradshaw Primary School Primary
- Christ Church Pellon CofE VC Primary School Primary
- Cliffe Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Copley Primary School Primary
- Dean Field Community Primary School Primary
- Holy Trinity Primary School, A Church of England Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Northowram Primary School teach?
- Northowram Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Halifax.
- Who is the headteacher of Northowram Primary School?
- The headteacher of Northowram Primary School is Mrs Jane Scardifield, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Northowram Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Northowram 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 Northowram Primary School?
- Northowram Primary School has 451 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Northowram Primary School full?
- Northowram Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 451 on roll (107%), so it is at or above 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 Northowram Primary School a faith school?
- No. Northowram Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Northowram Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Northowram Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Northowram Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 68% in 2022/23 and 70% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Northowram Primary School rank locally?
- Northowram Primary School ranked 26th of 76 primary schools in Calderdale for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 66% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 79% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Northowram Primary School's absence rate?
- Northowram Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Northowram Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Northowram 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.