Read St John's CofE Primary School
Straits Lane, READ, Burnley, BB12 7PE
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary controlled school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Miss Frances Agar
- Diocese
- Diocese of Blackburn
- Constituency
- Pendle and Clitheroe
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 201
- URN
- 119389
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01282771065
About this school
Read St John's CofE Primary School is a Church of England voluntary controlled primary school in Burnley. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 201 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Read St John's CofE 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. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 9 February 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
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 | 30 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 69% | 76% | 73% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 10% | 10% |
| Expected standard in reading | 84% | 86% | 87% |
| Expected standard in maths | 81% | 83% | 83% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 72% | 76% | 80% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 107.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 105.0 | 106.0 |
| Reading progress | -0.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +0.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.40 | - | - |
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 Read St John's CofE 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 | 69% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 76% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 73% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 189 |
| 2023/24 | 194 |
| 2024/25 | 193 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Read St John's CofE Primary School compares
Read St John's CofE Primary School ranked 107th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 73% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 85% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 73% | 4% | 13.5% | 201 | — |
| Simonstone St Peter's Church of England Primary School | 67% | 2.7% | 1.5% | 138 | 0.5 miles |
| Altham St James Church of England Primary School | 64% | 3.1% | 7.4% | 84 | 1.1 miles |
| Padiham St Leonard's Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School | 60% | 6.9% | 43.4% | 312 | 1.6 miles |
| St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Sabden | 43% | 5% | 27.9% | 69 | 1.7 miles |
| Padiham Green Church of England Primary School | 48% | 5.5% | 46.8% | 179 | 1.7 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)
- 13.47%
- English as an additional language
- 1.6%
- Overall absence
- 3.95%
- Persistent absence
- 7.02%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Simonstone St Peter's Church of England Primary School0.5 miles
Primary · Burnley
-
Altham St James Church of England Primary School1.1 miles
Primary · Accrington
-
Padiham St Leonard's Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School1.6 miles
Primary · Padiham, Burnley
-
St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Sabden1.7 miles
Primary · Clitheroe
-
Padiham Green Church of England Primary School1.7 miles
Primary · Padiham
Other schools in Burnley
Read St John's CofE Primary School ranks 4th 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 Read St John's CofE Primary School teach?
- Read St John's CofE Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Burnley.
- Who is the headteacher of Read St John's CofE Primary School?
- The headteacher of Read St John's CofE Primary School is Miss Frances Agar, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Read St John's CofE Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Read St John's CofE 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 Read St John's CofE Primary School?
- Read St John's CofE Primary School has 201 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Read St John's CofE Primary School full?
- Read St John's CofE Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 201 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Read St John's CofE Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. Read St John's CofE Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Blackburn.
- Does Read St John's CofE Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Read St John's CofE Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Read St John's CofE Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 69% in 2022/23 and 73% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Read St John's CofE Primary School compare with other schools in Lancashire?
- Read St John's CofE Primary School ranked 107th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 73% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 85% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Read St John's CofE Primary School's absence rate?
- Read St John's CofE Primary School's overall absence rate is 4% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Read St John's CofE Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Read St John's CofE 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.