St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School
Rock Lane, Tockholes, Darwen, BB3 0LX
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Executive Headteacher
- Mr Mark Power
- Diocese
- Diocese of Blackburn
- Constituency
- Rossendale and Darwen
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 70
- Pupils on roll
- 56
- URN
- 119459
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01254701806
About this school
St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School is a Church of England voluntary aided primary school in Darwen. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 56 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Early years
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 64% | 30% | 10% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 9% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 82% | 70% | 60% |
| Expected standard in maths | 82% | 60% | 30% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 82% | 90% | 70% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 108.0 | 106.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 104.0 | 98.0 |
| Reading progress | -1.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -3.10 | - | - |
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 St Stephen's Tockholes 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 | Blackburn with Darwen average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 64% | 57.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 30% | 57.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 10% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 4.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 62 |
| 2023/24 | 57 |
| 2024/25 | 56 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School compares
St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School ranked 51st of 51 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 5% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 10% | 5.9% | 14.3% | 56 | — |
| St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School | 38% | 5.8% | 33.3% | 184 | 1.3 miles |
| Abbey Village Primary School | 80% | 6.8% | 24.1% | 52 | 1.3 miles |
| St Edward's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | 70% | 4.5% | 18.4% | 198 | 1.4 miles |
| Avondale Primary School | 72% | 4.2% | 27.9% | 400 | 1.5 miles |
| Meadowhead Junior School | 40% | 6.9% | 65.3% | 201 | 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.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 14.29%
- English as an additional language
- 5.4%
- Overall absence
- 5.93%
- Persistent absence
- 13.79%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Abbey Village Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Chorley
-
St Edward's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy1.4 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Avondale Primary School1.5 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Meadowhead Junior School1.7 miles
Primary · Blackburn
Other schools in Darwen
St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School ranks 14th 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
- Holy Trinity VC 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
Common questions
- What year groups does St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School teach?
- St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Darwen.
- Who is the executive headteacher of St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School?
- The executive headteacher of St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School is Mr Mark Power, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Stephen's Tockholes 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 big is St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School?
- St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School has 56 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School full?
- St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School has capacity for 70 pupils and 56 on roll (80%), 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 St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Blackburn.
- Does St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 64% in 2022/23 and 10% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School rank locally?
- St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School ranked 51st of 51 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 5% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School's absence rate?
- St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Stephen's Tockholes 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.