Carnforth Christ Church, Church of England, Voluntary Aided Primary School

About Carnforth Christ Church, Church of England, Voluntary Aided Primary School

Carnforth Christ Church, Church of England, Voluntary Aided Primary School holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across its two most recent graded inspections. The most telling exam metric for this small primary school is the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which sits at 56%. That figure is slightly below the Lancashire local authority average of 60%, placing the school 278th out of 480 primary schools in the county. In the Lancaster local area specifically, it ranks 30th out of 46 schools, putting it in the bottom half of its immediate neighbours. The school’s most recent Ofsted visit in March 2022 was an ungraded inspection that confirmed it remains Good, with leadership and management also rated Good. The previous graded inspection in 2013 gave the same overall rating, alongside a Good for early years provision.

Looking closer at the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 results, the school shows a mixed picture across individual subjects. Reading is a relative strength, with 81% of pupils meeting the expected standard and an average scaled score of 104, while writing sees 88% at expected. Maths is weaker, with 69% reaching the expected level and an average score of 102. At the higher standard, the figures are more modest: 19% in reading, 19% in writing, and just 6% in maths. No pupils achieved the higher standard across all three subjects combined. The school does not publish progress scores for any subject, so it is not possible to say how much value it adds relative to pupils’ starting points. Nationally, Carnforth Christ Church ranks in the bottom third of all primary schools on the combined expected standard metric, sitting at the 66th percentile.

The school is a Church of England voluntary aided primary, with a current roll of 118 pupils against a capacity of 150, so there is some spare capacity. However, for the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: it received 40 applications for 16 places, with all 16 first-preference applicants offered a spot, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.5. Just over a fifth of pupils (20.3%) are eligible for free school meals, which is slightly above the national average. Facilities include an art studio, library, playing fields, outdoor playground and a chapel. Sports on offer are tennis, football, cross country and cricket, while clubs include choir, drama, gardening and art club. The school has identified SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, and other difficulties. This is a solid, community-focused primary that suits families who value its Church of England character and who are comfortable with a school that performs around the local average academically.

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