Higham St John's Church of England Primary School
Higham Hall Road, Higham, Burnley, BB12 9EU
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary controlled school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Acting Headteacher
- Mrs Helen Shaw
- Diocese
- Diocese of Blackburn
- Constituency
- Pendle and Clitheroe
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 140
- Pupils on roll
- 120
- URN
- 119387
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01282772376
About this school
Higham St John's Church of England Primary School is a Church of England voluntary controlled primary school in Burnley. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 120 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Higham St John's Church of England 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
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
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Urgent improvement
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Needs attention
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Urgent improvement
- Early years
- Urgent improvement
- Safeguarding
- Met
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: special measures.
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 | 17 | 17 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 60% | 59% | 53% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 5% | 12% | 6% |
| Expected standard in reading | 80% | 88% | 76% |
| Expected standard in maths | 80% | 82% | 82% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 70% | 82% | 53% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 107.0 | 107.0 | 103.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 104.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | +3.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.70 | - | - |
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 Higham St John's Church of England 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 | 60% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 59% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 53% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 137 |
| 2023/24 | 127 |
| 2024/25 | 133 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Higham St John's Church of England Primary School compares
Higham St John's Church of England Primary School ranked 313th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53% | 4.9% | 19.6% | 120 | — |
| Wheatley Lane Methodist Primary School | 72% | 4.4% | 7.7% | 207 | 1.4 miles |
| Padiham St Leonard's Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School | 60% | 6.9% | 43.4% | 312 | 1.9 miles |
| Newchurch-In-Pendle St Mary's Church of England Primary School | 83% | 2.9% | 16.4% | 53 | 1.9 miles |
| Padiham Primary School | 47% | 5.5% | 40.2% | 286 | 2.0 miles |
| Sabden Primary School | 50% | 3.4% | 10.9% | 101 | 2.1 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
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 19.55%
- English as an additional language
- 17.3%
- Overall absence
- 4.86%
- Persistent absence
- 11.21%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Wheatley Lane Methodist Primary School1.4 miles
Primary · Burnley
-
Padiham St Leonard's Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School1.9 miles
Primary · Padiham, Burnley
-
Newchurch-In-Pendle St Mary's Church of England Primary School1.9 miles
Primary · Burnley
-
Padiham Primary School2.0 miles
Primary · Burnley
-
Sabden Primary School2.1 miles
Primary · Sabden
Other schools in Burnley
Higham St John's Church of England Primary School ranks 22nd of the 33 ranked primary schools in Burnley.
- Barden Primary School Primary
- Briercliffe Primary School Primary
- Burnley Brunshaw Primary School Primary
- Burnley Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School Primary
- Burnley Ightenhill Primary School Primary
- Burnley Lowerhouse Junior School Primary
- Burnley Springfield Community Primary School Primary
- Burnley St Peter's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Burnley St Stephen's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Burnley Stoneyholme Community Primary School Primary
- Casterton Primary Academy Primary
- Cherry Fold Community Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Higham St John's Church of England Primary School teach?
- Higham St John's Church of England Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Burnley.
- Who is the acting headteacher of Higham St John's Church of England Primary School?
- The acting headteacher of Higham St John's Church of England Primary School is Mrs Helen Shaw, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Higham St John's Church of England Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Higham St John's Church of England 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 Higham St John's Church of England Primary School?
- Higham St John's Church of England Primary School has 120 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Higham St John's Church of England Primary School full?
- Higham St John's Church of England Primary School has capacity for 140 pupils and 120 on roll (86%), 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 Higham St John's Church of England Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. Higham St John's Church of England Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Blackburn.
- Does Higham St John's Church of England Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Higham St John's Church of England Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Higham St John's Church of England Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 60% in 2022/23 and 53% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Higham St John's Church of England Primary School compare with other schools in Lancashire?
- Higham St John's Church of England Primary School ranked 313th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 26% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 64% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Higham St John's Church of England Primary School's absence rate?
- Higham St John's Church of England Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Higham St John's Church of England Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Higham St John's Church of England 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 15 July 2026.