Clitheroe Brookside Primary School

About Clitheroe Brookside Primary School

Clitheroe Brookside Primary School’s Key Stage 2 results sit well below the Lancashire local authority average, which is a significant point for parents to weigh up. In the 2023/24 academic year, just 30% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared with a county average of 60%. That puts the school in the bottom 50 nationally for this metric, ranking 400th out of 480 primary schools in Lancashire. The individual subject scores tell a similar story: 48% of children hit the expected level in reading, 37% in maths, and 63% in writing. Higher-attaining pupils are also thin on the ground — only 4% achieved the higher standard across all three subjects, and no more than 7% did so in any single subject. These figures suggest that, while the school may suit some families, its academic outcomes are notably weaker than what most Lancashire primaries deliver.

The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, in February 2022, awarded an overall rating of Good, a clear improvement from its previous Requires Improvement judgement in 2018. Inspectors rated every category — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — as Good. That upward trajectory is encouraging, but the exam results suggest there is still ground to make up in core academic subjects. The school is small, with 135 pupils against a capacity of 210, and 24.4% of children are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average. The headteacher is Beverley Allan. There is no nursery provision and no sixth form, as this is a primary-only state school for children aged 5 to 11.

On the practical side, Clitheroe Brookside offers a decent range of facilities including a forest school, art studios, music rooms, a sports hall and playing fields. Clubs include art, drama, book club, eco club, choir and gardening, and the school fields teams in athletics, netball, swimming, dance, cricket, football and cross country. The school has a chapel on site. For children with additional needs, the school supports moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. Admission is competitive: for the 2025/26 intake, there were 35 applications for 14 places, with 11 first-preference offers made. The oversubscription ratio of 2.5 means demand outstrips supply, so families living closest to the school will have the strongest chance of securing a place.

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