Altham St James Church of England Primary School

About Altham St James Church of England Primary School

Altham St James Church of England Primary School holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across both its most recent inspections. The school's most telling academic metric is its Key Stage 2 combined reading, writing and maths expected standard score of 73%, which places it second out of 31 primary schools in the Hyndburn local authority. This puts the school in the top 25% nationally and well above the Lancashire local authority average of 60%. In its most recent graded inspection in 2011, inspectors rated leadership and management, early years provision and overall effectiveness all as Good, and a subsequent ungraded inspection in 2021 confirmed the school remains Good. The school's small size — just 81 pupils against a capacity of 63 — means these results come from a very small cohort, but the consistency across subjects is notable.

Looking at the individual subject breakdown for the 2023/24 academic year, the school performs particularly strongly in writing, where 91% of pupils met the expected standard and 36% achieved a higher standard. Reading also impresses, with 73% at expected and 45% reaching the higher standard — a figure that suggests strong literacy teaching. Maths is slightly lower, with 82% at expected and just 9% at the higher level, though the average maths score of 105 is still solid. The school's progress scores are not available in the data, so it is difficult to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points, but the raw attainment figures are clearly above local and national norms. With only 7.4% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively advantaged intake, which likely contributes to these strong outcomes.

The school is oversubscribed, with 52 applications for just 14 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, and 11 of those 14 first-preference offers went to families who listed it as their top choice. Facilities include a library, ICT suite, gymnasium, sensory room, playing fields, music rooms and a chapel, which is generous for a school of this size. Sports on offer include cricket, football, cross country and dance, while clubs range from film club and gardening to eco club. The school has identified SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a Church of England primary that suits families who prioritise strong academic outcomes in a small, close-knit setting and who are comfortable with the high demand for places.

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