The Olive School, Blackburn
Meins Road, Blackburn, BB2 6QQ
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Free schools
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Muslim
- Trust
- STAR ACADEMIES
- Executive Headteacher
- Mrs Smeena Riaz
- Religious ethos
- None
- Sponsor
- Star Academies
- Constituency
- Blackburn
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 630
- Pupils on roll
- 638
- URN
- 139813
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 0125454070
About this school
The Olive School, Blackburn is a Muslim primary academy in Blackburn. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 638 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 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
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Early years
- Outstanding
- 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 | 90 | 94 | 91 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 92% | 95% | 98% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 23% | 26% | 24% |
| Expected standard in reading | 94% | 95% | 98% |
| Expected standard in maths | 97% | 96% | 99% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 96% | 93% | 98% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 109.0 | 110.0 | 111.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 110.0 | 112.0 | 113.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.80 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +2.30 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +3.70 | - | - |
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 The Olive School, Blackburn 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 | 92% | 57.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 95% | 57.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 98% | 60.7% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.1% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 635 |
| 2023/24 | 638 |
| 2024/25 | 637 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How The Olive School, Blackburn compares
The Olive School, Blackburn ranked 2nd of 51 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 100% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 98% | 3.1% | 4.2% | 638 | — |
| St Silas's CofE Primary School | 59% | 6.1% | 28.5% | 311 | 0.4 miles |
| Wensley Fold CofE Primary Academy | 83% | 4.1% | 11.9% | 463 | 0.5 miles |
| Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn | 60% | 6% | 23.9% | 173 | 0.5 miles |
| Queen Elizabeth's Primary School | 45% | 5.7% | 17.3% | 387 | 0.8 miles |
| St Barnabas and St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School | 70% | 3.7% | 32.1% | 419 | 0.9 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)
- 4.24%
- English as an additional language
- 98.4%
- Overall absence
- 3.11%
- Persistent absence
- 5.09%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Silas's CofE Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
Wensley Fold CofE Primary Academy0.5 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn0.5 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
Queen Elizabeth's Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Blackburn
-
St Barnabas and St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School0.9 miles
Primary · Blackburn
Other schools in Blackburn
The Olive School, Blackburn ranks 1st of the 49 ranked primary schools in Blackburn.
- Audley Infant School Primary
- Audley Junior School Primary
- Balderstone St Leonard's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Belthorn Academy Primary School Primary
- Blackburn St Thomas' Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary Primary
- Brookhouse Primary School Primary
- Cedars Primary School Primary
- Daisyfield Primary School Primary
- Feniscowles Primary School Primary
- Great Harwood Primary School Primary
- Great Harwood St Bartholomew's Parish Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does The Olive School, Blackburn teach?
- The Olive School, Blackburn teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Blackburn.
- Who is the executive headteacher of The Olive School, Blackburn?
- The executive headteacher of The Olive School, Blackburn is Mrs Smeena Riaz, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was The Olive School, Blackburn last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected The Olive School, Blackburn, 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 The Olive School, Blackburn?
- The Olive School, Blackburn has 638 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is The Olive School, Blackburn full?
- The Olive School, Blackburn has capacity for 630 pupils and 638 on roll (101%), so it is at or above 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 The Olive School, Blackburn a faith school?
- Yes. The Olive School, Blackburn is designated Muslim.
- Does The Olive School, Blackburn have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records The Olive School, Blackburn as having no nursery classes.
- Who runs The Olive School, Blackburn?
- The Olive School, Blackburn is part of STAR ACADEMIES. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have The Olive School, Blackburn's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 92% in 2022/23 and 98% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does The Olive School, Blackburn rank locally?
- The Olive School, Blackburn ranked 2nd of 51 primary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 100% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 97% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is The Olive School, Blackburn's absence rate?
- The Olive School, Blackburn's overall absence rate is 3.1% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are The Olive School, Blackburn's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, The Olive School, Blackburn'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.