Holy Trinity VC School
Bank Top, Darwen, BB3 2RW
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary controlled school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Mrs Susannah Burgess
- Diocese
- Diocese of Blackburn
- Constituency
- Rossendale and Darwen
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 119
- URN
- 119357
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01254702119
About this school
Holy Trinity VC School is a Church of England voluntary controlled primary school in Darwen. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 119 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Early years
- Requires improvement
- 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 | 29 | 24 | 21 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 48% | 29% | 62% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 4% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 66% | 50% | 76% |
| Expected standard in maths | 62% | 54% | 67% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 76% | 54% | 86% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 103.0 | 107.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 101.0 | 102.0 | 103.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.90 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -0.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -3.20 | - | - |
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 Holy Trinity VC 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 | 48% | 57.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 29% | 57.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 62% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 131 |
| 2023/24 | 134 |
| 2024/25 | 133 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Holy Trinity VC School compares
Holy Trinity VC School ranked 27th of 51 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 45% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 62% | 7% | 58.7% | 119 | — |
| St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen | 70% | 5% | 16.8% | 165 | 0.4 miles |
| Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy | 37% | 7.5% | 54.6% | 203 | 0.5 miles |
| Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary | 64% | 7.9% | 45.6% | 167 | 0.6 miles |
| Darwen St Peter's Church of England Primary School | 43% | 6.2% | 33.9% | 240 | 0.6 miles |
| Avondale Primary School | 72% | 4.2% | 27.9% | 400 | 0.6 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)
- 58.65%
- English as an additional language
- 15.8%
- Overall absence
- 7.01%
- Persistent absence
- 22.83%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen0.4 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary0.6 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Darwen St Peter's Church of England Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Avondale Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Darwen
Other schools in Darwen
Holy Trinity VC School ranks 7th 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
- Lower Darwen Primary 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 Holy Trinity VC School teach?
- Holy Trinity VC School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Darwen.
- Who is the headteacher of Holy Trinity VC School?
- The headteacher of Holy Trinity VC School is Mrs Susannah Burgess, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Holy Trinity VC School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Holy Trinity VC 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 Holy Trinity VC School?
- Holy Trinity VC School has 119 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Holy Trinity VC School full?
- Holy Trinity VC School has capacity for 420 pupils and 119 on roll (28%), 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 Holy Trinity VC School a faith school?
- Yes. Holy Trinity VC School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Blackburn.
- Does Holy Trinity VC School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Holy Trinity VC School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Holy Trinity VC School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 48% in 2022/23 and 62% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Holy Trinity VC School rank locally?
- Holy Trinity VC School ranked 27th of 51 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 45% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 24% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Holy Trinity VC School's absence rate?
- Holy Trinity VC School's overall absence rate is 7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Holy Trinity VC School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Holy Trinity VC 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.