Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School
Devonshire Street, Accrington, BB5 1DW
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 5 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Helen Victoria Bird
- Diocese
- Diocese of Blackburn
- Constituency
- Hyndburn
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 176
- URN
- 119446
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01254232329
About this school
Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School is a Church of England voluntary aided primary school in Accrington. It teaches children aged 5 to 11 and has 176 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. 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
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Early years
- Urgent improvement
- Safeguarding
- Met
Ofsted placed the school in a category of concern: requires significant improvement.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 28 | 30 | 26 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 52% | 37% | 58% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 4% | 3% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 57% | 53% | 73% |
| Expected standard in maths | 71% | 47% | 73% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 50% | 30% | 65% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 102.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 100.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.50 | - | - |
| 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 Accrington St Mary Magdalen'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 | 52% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 37% | 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 | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 197 |
| 2023/24 | 204 |
| 2024/25 | 190 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School compares
Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School ranked 278th 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 35% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 58% | 6.2% | 46.8% | 176 | — |
| Accrington St John with St Augustine Church of England Primary School | 24% | 5.9% | 40.7% | 207 | 0.3 miles |
| Accrington Hyndburn Park Primary School | 42% | 5.8% | 30.3% | 434 | 0.4 miles |
| Accrington Peel Park Primary School | 57% | 6.1% | 32.5% | 570 | 0.6 miles |
| Accrington Benjamin Hargreaves Church of England Primary School | 74% | 4.9% | 29.5% | 137 | 0.7 miles |
| St Nicholas Church of England Primary School | 68% | 5.4% | 36.1% | 187 | 0.7 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 46.84%
- English as an additional language
- 29.5%
- Overall absence
- 6.2%
- Persistent absence
- 19.44%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Accrington St John with St Augustine Church of England Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Accrington
-
Accrington Hyndburn Park Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Accrington
-
Accrington Peel Park Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Accrington
-
Accrington Benjamin Hargreaves Church of England Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Accrington
-
St Nicholas Church of England Primary School0.7 miles
Primary · Accrington
Other schools in Accrington
Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School ranks 14th of the 25 ranked primary schools in Accrington.
- Accrington Benjamin Hargreaves Church of England Primary School Primary
- Accrington Huncoat Primary School Primary
- Accrington Hyndburn Park Primary School Primary
- Accrington Peel Park Primary School Primary
- Accrington Spring Hill Community Primary School Primary
- Accrington St John with St Augustine Church of England Primary School Primary
- Accrington Woodnook Primary School Primary
- Altham St James Church of England Primary School Primary
- Baxenden St John's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Clayton-le-Moors All Saints' Church of England Primary School Primary
- Clayton-le-Moors Mount Pleasant Primary School Primary
- Green Haworth Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School teach?
- Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School teaches children aged 5 to 11. It is a primary school in Accrington.
- Who is the headteacher of Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School?
- The headteacher of Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School is Helen Victoria Bird, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Accrington St Mary Magdalen'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 big is Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School?
- Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School has 176 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 5 to 11.
- Is Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School full?
- Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 176 on roll (84%), 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 Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Blackburn.
- Does Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Accrington St Mary Magdalen'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 52% 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 Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School rank locally?
- Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School ranked 278th 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 35% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School's absence rate?
- Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School's overall absence rate is 6.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Accrington St Mary Magdalen'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 30 June 2026.