Lower Darwen Primary School
Milking Lane, Lower Darwen, Darwen, BB3 0RB
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Simone Addy
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment
- Constituency
- Rossendale and Darwen
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 382
- URN
- 119120
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 0125455639
About this school
Lower Darwen Primary School is a community primary school in Darwen. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 382 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- 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 | 59 | 57 | 59 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 31% | 35% | 41% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 2% | 2% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 47% | 44% | 58% |
| Expected standard in maths | 53% | 54% | 53% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 47% | 49% | 64% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 100.0 | 100.0 | 102.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 102.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | -4.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | 0.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -3.30 | - | - |
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 Lower Darwen 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 | Blackburn with Darwen average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 31% | 57.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 35% | 57.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 41% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 379 |
| 2023/24 | 380 |
| 2024/25 | 389 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Lower Darwen Primary School compares
Lower Darwen Primary School ranked 46th of 51 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen 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 35% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41% | 6.2% | 17.7% | 382 | — |
| St James' Church of England Primary School | 50% | 5.3% | 26.7% | 202 | 0.4 miles |
| Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn | 79% | 6% | 43.5% | 180 | 0.6 miles |
| St Edward's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | 70% | 4.5% | 18.4% | 198 | 0.7 miles |
| Longshaw Infant School | — | 6.9% | 44.2% | 203 | 0.8 miles |
| Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary | 85% | 3.7% | 8.9% | 416 | 0.9 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)
- 17.74%
- English as an additional language
- 7.7%
- Overall absence
- 6.24%
- Persistent absence
- 15.06%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St James' Church of England Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn0.6 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
St Edward's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy0.7 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Longshaw Infant School0.8 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary0.9 miles
Primary · Blackburn
Other schools in Darwen
Lower Darwen Primary School ranks 11th of the 14 ranked primary schools in Darwen.
- Ashleigh Primary School Primary
- Avondale Primary School Primary
- Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary Primary
- Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Darwen St Peter's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Darwen, St Barnabas CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Hoddlesden St Paul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Holy Trinity VC School Primary
- St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Edward's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Primary
- St James' Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Lower Darwen Primary School teach?
- Lower Darwen Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Darwen.
- Who is the headteacher of Lower Darwen Primary School?
- The headteacher of Lower Darwen Primary School is Simone Addy, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Lower Darwen Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Lower Darwen 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 Lower Darwen Primary School?
- Lower Darwen Primary School has 382 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Lower Darwen Primary School full?
- Lower Darwen Primary School has capacity for 420 pupils and 382 on roll (91%), 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 Lower Darwen Primary School a faith school?
- No. Lower Darwen Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Lower Darwen Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Lower Darwen Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- What SEN provision does Lower Darwen Primary School have?
- The schools register lists Lower Darwen Primary School's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Lower Darwen Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 31% 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 Lower Darwen Primary School rank locally?
- Lower Darwen Primary School ranked 46th of 51 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen 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 35% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Lower Darwen Primary School's absence rate?
- Lower Darwen Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Lower Darwen Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Lower Darwen 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 30 June 2026.