Great Harwood Primary School
Rushton Street, Great Harwood, Blackburn, BB6 7JQ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr John McKenna
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Hyndburn
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 315
- Pupils on roll
- 210
- URN
- 119162
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01254880810
About this school
Great Harwood Primary School is a community primary school in Blackburn. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 210 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit 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 | 20 | 27 | 33 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 40% | 56% | 52% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 0% | 6% |
| Expected standard in reading | 55% | 67% | 61% |
| Expected standard in maths | 65% | 74% | 82% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 55% | 81% | 76% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 100.0 | 103.0 | 102.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 103.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.50 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.50 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.10 | - | - |
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 Great Harwood 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 | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 40% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 56% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 52% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 187 |
| 2023/24 | 202 |
| 2024/25 | 209 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Great Harwood Primary School compares
Great Harwood Primary School ranked 323rd of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52% | 6.5% | 43.9% | 210 | — |
| St Wulstan's Roman Catholic Primary School, Great Harwood | 27% | 5% | 33.8% | 135 | 0.0 miles |
| Great Harwood St John's Church of England Primary School | 44% | 5.7% | 45.1% | 158 | 0.3 miles |
| Great Harwood St Bartholomew's Parish Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 59% | 4% | 32.3% | 180 | 0.5 miles |
| St Hubert's Roman Catholic Primary School, Great Harwood | 54% | 3.9% | 11.5% | 137 | 0.8 miles |
| Rishton St Peter and St Paul's Church of England Primary School | 60% | 3.7% | 31% | 188 | 1.0 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)
- 43.93%
- English as an additional language
- 30.6%
- Overall absence
- 6.53%
- Persistent absence
- 20%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Wulstan's Roman Catholic Primary School, Great Harwood0.0 miles
Primary · Great Harwood
-
Great Harwood St John's Church of England Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
Great Harwood St Bartholomew's Parish Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
St Hubert's Roman Catholic Primary School, Great Harwood0.8 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
Rishton St Peter and St Paul's Church of England Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Blackburn
Other schools in Blackburn
Great Harwood Primary School ranks 41st of the 49 ranked primary schools in Blackburn.
- Audley Infant School Primary
- Audley Junior School Primary
- Balderstone St Leonard's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Belthorn Academy Primary School Primary
- Blackburn St Thomas' Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary Primary
- Brookhouse Primary School Primary
- Cedars Primary School Primary
- Daisyfield Primary School Primary
- Feniscowles Primary School Primary
- Great Harwood St Bartholomew's Parish Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Great Harwood St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Great Harwood Primary School teach?
- Great Harwood Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Blackburn.
- Who is the headteacher of Great Harwood Primary School?
- The headteacher of Great Harwood Primary School is Mr John McKenna, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Great Harwood Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Great Harwood 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 Great Harwood Primary School?
- Great Harwood Primary School has 210 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Great Harwood Primary School full?
- Great Harwood Primary School has capacity for 315 pupils and 210 on roll (67%), 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 Great Harwood Primary School a faith school?
- No. Great Harwood Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Great Harwood Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Great Harwood Primary School as having nursery classes.
- How have Great Harwood Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 40% in 2022/23 and 52% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Great Harwood Primary School rank locally?
- Great Harwood Primary School ranked 323rd of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 24% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 30% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Great Harwood Primary School's absence rate?
- Great Harwood Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Great Harwood Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Great Harwood 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.