Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School

About Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School

When you compare Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School against the local authority average for primary schools in Lancashire, the headline metrics tell a clear story. Just 37% of its pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at Key Stage 2 in 2023/24, while the LA average sits at 60%. That gap of 23 percentage points is significant, and it places the school in the bottom half of Lancashire primaries — ranked 388th out of 480. The school's ranking score of 37 puts it firmly in the bottom 50 nationally for this measure. Within its own borough of Hyndburn, it ranks 27th out of 31 primary schools. These figures suggest a school serving a community with considerable challenges, something reflected in the high proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals, at 46.8%.

Despite the headline results, the school's most recent Ofsted inspection in 2021 rated it Good overall, an improvement from its previous Requires Improvement rating in 2013. The inspection gave top marks of Good for leadership and management, early years provision, and overall effectiveness. Looking more closely at the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 data, the picture is mixed. In reading, 53% of pupils met the expected standard and the average scaled score was 102, which is in line with the national average of 100. In writing, 53% also met the expected standard. Maths was weaker, with 47% at the expected level and an average score of 100. The proportion reaching the higher standard in reading, writing and maths combined was just 3%, so very few pupils are exceeding expectations. The school does not publish progress scores for reading, writing or maths, so it's hard to say how much value it adds relative to pupils' starting points.

The school is clearly oversubscribed, with 67 applications for just 15 places in 2025/26, and 13 of those offers going to first-preference families. That suggests strong local demand despite the academic results. Facilities include an ICT suite, a sensory room, a library, an outdoor playground, a forest school and a chapel. The school offers a range of sports including dance, cross country, cricket, football, gymnastics and tennis, plus clubs such as drama, choir, book club, gardening and chess. Its SEND provisions cover specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, and physical disabilities. This is a Church of England primary with a headteacher, Helen Victoria Bird, leading a relatively small school of 190 pupils against a capacity of 210. It will suit families who value a faith-based setting with strong pastoral support and a broad range of extracurricular activities, but who are realistic about the academic outcomes compared with higher-performing schools in the area.

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