Barrowford School
Rushton Street, Barrowford, Nelson, BB9 6EA
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rachel Tomlinson
- SEN provision
- SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- Constituency
- Pendle and Clitheroe
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 312
- URN
- 119166
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01282615644
About this school
Barrowford School is a community primary school in Nelson. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 312 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Early years
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 65 | 68 | 60 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 38% | 50% | 50% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 1% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 60% | 72% | 72% |
| Expected standard in maths | 57% | 63% | 60% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 49% | 65% | 53% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 102.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 102.0 | 103.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | +2.10 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.30 | - | - |
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 Barrowford 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 | 38% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 50% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 50% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 326 |
| 2023/24 | 296 |
| 2024/25 | 327 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Barrowford School compares
Barrowford School ranked 341st of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50% | 11.3% | 41.6% | 312 | — |
| Barrowford St Thomas Church of England Primary School | 88% | 3.4% | 9.9% | 121 | 0.4 miles |
| Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School, Nelson | 57% | 5.8% | 42.2% | 200 | 0.5 miles |
| Bradley Primary School | 60% | 6.3% | 51.8% | 417 | 0.7 miles |
| Lomeshaye Junior School | 80% | 4.6% | 41.7% | 352 | 1.0 miles |
| Nelson St Philip's Church of England Primary School | 58% | 7.1% | 42.1% | 137 | 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.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report21 April 2026
- 2 March 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 41.59%
- English as an additional language
- 17.1%
- Overall absence
- 11.27%
- Persistent absence
- 40.88%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Barrowford St Thomas Church of England Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Nelson
-
Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School, Nelson0.5 miles
Primary · Nelson
-
Bradley Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Nelson
-
Lomeshaye Junior School1.0 miles
Primary · Nelson
-
Nelson St Philip's Church of England Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Nelson
Other schools in Nelson
Barrowford School ranks 14th of the 16 ranked primary schools in Nelson.
- Barrowford St Thomas Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blacko Primary School Primary
- Bradley Primary School Primary
- Castercliff Primary School Primary
- Great Marsden St John's Primary School A Church of England Academy Primary
- Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School, Nelson Primary
- Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Primary
- Lomeshaye Junior School Primary
- Marsden Community Primary School Primary
- Nelson St Paul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Nelson St Philip's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Pendle Primary Academy Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Barrowford School teach?
- Barrowford School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Nelson.
- Who is the headteacher of Barrowford School?
- The headteacher of Barrowford School is Mrs Rachel Tomlinson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Barrowford School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Barrowford 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 Barrowford School?
- Barrowford School has 312 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Barrowford School full?
- Barrowford School has capacity for 420 pupils and 312 on roll (74%), 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 Barrowford School a faith school?
- No. Barrowford School has no designated religious character.
- Does Barrowford School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Barrowford School as having no nursery classes.
- What SEN provision does Barrowford School have?
- The schools register lists Barrowford School's special educational needs provision as: SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Barrowford School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 38% in 2022/23 and 50% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Barrowford School rank locally?
- Barrowford School ranked 341st of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 5% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Barrowford School's absence rate?
- Barrowford School's overall absence rate is 11.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Barrowford School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Barrowford 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 15 July 2026.