Great Harwood St John's Church of England Primary School

About Great Harwood St John's Church of England Primary School

Great Harwood St John's Church of England Primary School sits in the bottom half of Lancashire primary schools when it comes to the key stage 2 combined expected standard in reading, writing and maths, with just 45% of pupils reaching that benchmark against a local authority average of 60%. That 15-point gap is significant and places the school 347th out of 480 primaries in the county. However, the picture is more nuanced than a single headline figure suggests. While only 5% of pupils achieved the higher standard across all three subjects, individual subject results tell a different story: 80% of children met the expected standard in maths, well above the national average, and the average maths scaled score of 103 is solid. Reading and writing expected rates were lower at 45% and 65% respectively, which pulls the combined figure down. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated it Good overall, with early years provision judged Outstanding — a clear strength that feeds into later outcomes.

The Ofsted report from September 2023 awarded Good marks across the board for quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management. This represents a consistent performance compared with the school's previous inspection in 2013, which also rated it Good overall. The standout grade is the Outstanding for early years provision, suggesting that children get a strong start in Reception. At key stage 2, the maths results are the clear academic highlight: 80% of pupils reached the expected standard and the average score of 103 is above the national average of 100. Reading and writing are weaker areas, with expected rates of 45% and 65% respectively, and only 10% of pupils achieved the higher standard in reading. 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 maths outcomes are notably strong for a school with a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils.

With 45.1% of pupils eligible for free school meals, Great Harwood St John's serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage, and the school is clearly popular: for 2025/26 admissions, it received 63 applications for 25 places, with 32 first-preference applications for those 25 spots, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.52. The school offers a decent range of facilities including a library, playing fields, sports hall, ICT suite, music rooms, a chapel and a Forest School, plus clubs such as coding, chess, choir, drama, gardening and film club. Sports on offer include gymnastics, swimming, dance and cross country. SEND provision covers moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a church school with a strong early years foundation, solid maths teaching, and a broad extracurricular offer, best suited to families who value a supportive, community-focused primary with a clear Christian character.

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