Pendle Primary Academy
Walter Street, Brierfield, Nelson, BB9 5AW
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- PENDLE EDUCATION TRUST
- Academy Principal
- Mr Simon Thompson
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Pendle Education Trust
- Constituency
- Burnley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 420
- Pupils on roll
- 415
- URN
- 139053
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01282615927
About this school
Pendle Primary Academy is a primary academy in Nelson. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 415 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
- Expected standard
- 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 | 59 | 59 | 59 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 59% | 51% | 64% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 12% | 3% | 5% |
| Expected standard in reading | 71% | 68% | 78% |
| Expected standard in maths | 75% | 75% | 73% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 81% | 81% | 86% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 104.0 | 103.0 | 105.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 106.0 | 104.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.30 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +2.60 | - | - |
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 Pendle Primary Academy 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 | 59% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 51% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 64% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 413 |
| 2023/24 | 412 |
| 2024/25 | 423 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Pendle Primary Academy compares
Pendle Primary Academy ranked 217th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 50% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 41% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 64% | 5.8% | 29.8% | 415 | — |
| Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | 86% | 4.1% | 22.3% | 126 | 0.3 miles |
| Reedley Primary School | 61% | 5.9% | 44.6% | 408 | 0.3 miles |
| Casterton Primary Academy | 72% | 5.4% | 35.6% | 291 | 0.7 miles |
| St John the Baptist RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | 59% | 5.5% | 33.5% | 212 | 0.7 miles |
| Nelson St Paul's Church of England Primary School | 58% | 6.3% | 34.4% | 408 | 0.8 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
-
Graded inspection report25 November 2025
- 8 March 2022
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 29.79%
- English as an additional language
- 92.4%
- Overall absence
- 5.84%
- Persistent absence
- 13.24%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy0.3 miles
Primary · Nelson
-
Reedley Primary School0.3 miles
Primary · Burnley
-
Casterton Primary Academy0.7 miles
Primary · Burnley
-
St John the Baptist RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy0.7 miles
Primary · Burnley
-
Nelson St Paul's Church of England Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Nelson
Other schools in Nelson
Pendle Primary Academy ranks 8th of the 16 ranked primary schools in Nelson.
- Barrowford School Primary
- Barrowford St Thomas Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blacko Primary School Primary
- Bradley Primary School Primary
- Castercliff Primary School Primary
- Great Marsden St John's Primary School A Church of England Academy Primary
- Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School, Nelson Primary
- Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy Primary
- Lomeshaye Junior School Primary
- Marsden Community Primary School Primary
- Nelson St Paul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Nelson St Philip's Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Pendle Primary Academy teach?
- Pendle Primary Academy teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Nelson.
- Who is the academy principal of Pendle Primary Academy?
- The academy principal of Pendle Primary Academy is Mr Simon Thompson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Pendle Primary Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Pendle Primary Academy, 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 Pendle Primary Academy?
- Pendle Primary Academy has 415 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Pendle Primary Academy full?
- Pendle Primary Academy has capacity for 420 pupils and 415 on roll (99%), 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 Pendle Primary Academy a faith school?
- No. Pendle Primary Academy has no designated religious character.
- Does Pendle Primary Academy have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Pendle Primary Academy as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs Pendle Primary Academy?
- Pendle Primary Academy is part of PENDLE EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Pendle Primary Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 59% in 2022/23 and 64% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Pendle Primary Academy rank locally?
- Pendle Primary Academy ranked 217th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 50% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 41% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Pendle Primary Academy's absence rate?
- Pendle Primary Academy's overall absence rate is 5.8% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Pendle Primary Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Pendle Primary Academy'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 1 July 2026.