St James' Church of England Primary School
Off Stopes Brow, Lower Darwen, Darwen, BB3 0QP
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Miss Melissa Tindall
- Diocese
- Diocese of Blackburn
- Constituency
- Rossendale and Darwen
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 202
- URN
- 119503
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01254698656
About this school
St James' Church of England Primary School is a Church of England voluntary aided primary school in Darwen. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 202 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
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- 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 | 30 | 28 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 52% | 50% | 50% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 7% | 7% | 4% |
| Expected standard in reading | 72% | 93% | 68% |
| Expected standard in maths | 72% | 67% | 61% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 76% | 57% | 64% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 108.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 102.0 | 104.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -1.10 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.60 | - | - |
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 James' 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 | Blackburn with Darwen average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 52% | 57.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 50% | 57.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 50% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 184 |
| 2023/24 | 191 |
| 2024/25 | 191 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St James' Church of England Primary School compares
St James' Church of England Primary School ranked 40th of 51 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 54% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50% | 5.3% | 26.7% | 202 | — |
| Lower Darwen Primary School | 41% | 6.2% | 17.7% | 382 | 0.4 miles |
| Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn | 79% | 6% | 43.5% | 180 | 0.6 miles |
| Longshaw Infant School | — | 6.9% | 44.2% | 203 | 0.8 miles |
| Longshaw Community Junior School | 67% | 5.2% | 59.7% | 334 | 1.0 miles |
| Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary | 85% | 3.7% | 8.9% | 416 | 1.0 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)
- 26.7%
- English as an additional language
- 19.9%
- Overall absence
- 5.25%
- Persistent absence
- 13.48%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lower Darwen Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Darwen
-
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn0.6 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
Longshaw Infant School0.8 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
Longshaw Community Junior School1.0 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary1.0 miles
Primary · Blackburn
Other schools in Darwen
St James' Church of England Primary School ranks 8th 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 Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does St James' Church of England Primary School teach?
- St James' Church of England Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Darwen.
- Who is the headteacher of St James' Church of England Primary School?
- The headteacher of St James' Church of England Primary School is Miss Melissa Tindall, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St James' Church of England Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St James' 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 St James' Church of England Primary School?
- St James' Church of England Primary School has 202 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is St James' Church of England Primary School full?
- St James' Church of England Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 202 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 St James' Church of England Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. St James' Church of England Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Blackburn.
- Does St James' Church of England Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records St James' Church of England Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have St James' 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 50% 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 James' Church of England Primary School rank locally?
- St James' Church of England Primary School ranked 40th of 51 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 21% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 54% 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 James' Church of England Primary School's absence rate?
- St James' Church of England Primary School's overall absence rate is 5.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St James' Church of England Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St James' 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.