Anderton Primary School
Babylon Lane, Adlington, PR6 9NN
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Acting Headteacher
- Mrs Rachel Norton-Smith
- Constituency
- Chorley
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 185
- URN
- 119202
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01257480551
About this school
Anderton Primary School is a community primary school in Adlington. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 185 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Anderton Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found that standards have been maintained.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 32 | 29 | 26 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 66% | 59% | 58% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 0% | 12% |
| Expected standard in reading | 91% | 76% | 65% |
| Expected standard in maths | 78% | 66% | 65% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 75% | 72% | 69% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 103.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.40 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -0.50 | - | - |
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 Anderton 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 | 66% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 59% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 58% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 195 |
| 2023/24 | 190 |
| 2024/25 | 191 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Anderton Primary School compares
Anderton Primary School ranked 271st of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 36% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 58% | 3.2% | 11% | 185 | — |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton | 65% | 2.8% | 11.2% | 180 | 0.2 miles |
| Adlington St Paul's Church of England Primary School | 70% | 5.4% | 25.6% | 156 | 0.2 miles |
| Adlington Primary School | 71% | 4.3% | 16.3% | 123 | 0.6 miles |
| Rivington Foundation Primary School | 79% | 4.2% | 9.9% | 109 | 1.3 miles |
| Blackrod Anglican/Methodist Primary School | 56% | 5.1% | 22.5% | 260 | 1.8 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
-
Ungraded inspection report27 November 2024
- 25 September 2019
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 10.99%
- English as an additional language
- 1.6%
- Overall absence
- 3.15%
- Persistent absence
- 3.73%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Anderton0.2 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
Adlington St Paul's Church of England Primary School0.2 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
Adlington Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
Rivington Foundation Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Bolton
-
Blackrod Anglican/Methodist Primary School1.8 miles
Primary · Bolton
Common questions
- What ages does Anderton Primary School teach?
- Anderton Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Adlington.
- Who is the acting headteacher of Anderton Primary School?
- The acting headteacher of Anderton Primary School is Mrs Rachel Norton-Smith, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Anderton Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Anderton 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 many pupils are at Anderton Primary School?
- Anderton Primary School has 185 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Anderton Primary School full?
- Anderton Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 185 on roll (88%), 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 Anderton Primary School a faith school?
- No. Anderton Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Anderton Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Anderton Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Anderton Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 66% in 2022/23 and 58% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Anderton Primary School compare with other schools in Lancashire?
- Anderton Primary School ranked 271st of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 36% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Anderton Primary School's absence rate?
- Anderton Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Anderton Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Anderton 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.