Bickerstaffe CofE Primary School and Nursery

About Bickerstaffe CofE Primary School and Nursery

If you’re comparing primary schools in Lancashire, the headline metric that jumps out is that 67% of Bickerstaffe CofE Primary School and Nursery’s pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2 in 2023/24. That’s seven percentage points above the local authority average of 60% for the same stage, putting the school comfortably ahead of the typical Lancashire primary. It’s not a spectacular outlier — the school ranks 168th out of 480 primaries in the county — but it’s a solid, above-average performance that suggests consistent teaching. The school’s Ofsted rating of Good, confirmed in a February 2024 inspection, backs that up, with inspectors noting that early years provision is actually Outstanding. So while Bickerstaffe isn’t challenging the very top of the local league table, it’s delivering results that are clearly better than the norm for its area.

Digging into the detail of those Key Stage 2 results, the picture is mixed but generally positive. Reading was the strongest subject: 83% of pupils met the expected standard, and 17% reached the higher standard, with an average scaled score of 105. Writing matched reading on expected attainment at 83%, though no pupils hit the higher threshold. Maths was a bit weaker — 75% at the expected level and only 8% at the higher standard, with an average score of 102. That’s still above the national average of 100, but the gap between reading and maths is noticeable. The school doesn’t publish progress scores for any subject, so it’s hard to say whether pupils are making above-average gains from their starting points. Nationally, Bickerstaffe sits in the 38th percentile for expected attainment, and in the North West it’s in the 37th percentile — respectable but not elite. The school’s own ranking score of 67 places it in the top 50% of primaries nationally.

Bickerstaffe is a small Church of England primary with 99 pupils on roll, just under its capacity of 105, and it’s oversubscribed: for 2025/26, there were 16 applications for 9 places, with all 9 first-preference offers going to families who put it top. That ratio of 1.78 applicants per place tells you it’s a popular choice locally. The school has a nursery provision, so children can start at age three, and it offers a decent range of facilities including a sports hall, music rooms, art studios, a forest school and a chapel. SEND support is well-documented, covering dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional needs, speech and language issues, and autistic spectrum disorder. Clubs include eco, chess, choir, art and science, and sports run to athletics, netball, dance and gymnastics. With 34.3% of pupils eligible for free school meals — well above the national average — this is a genuinely inclusive school that serves a mixed catchment. It’s a good fit for families who want a village-style, faith-based primary with strong early years and above-average academic outcomes, but who are realistic about it not being the highest-performing school in the county.

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