Kelbrook Primary School

About Kelbrook Primary School

Kelbrook Primary School sits within Lancashire’s Pendle borough, a small village primary that ranks 8th out of 33 schools of its type in the local authority. That places it comfortably in the top quarter of Pendle primaries, though it’s worth noting the wider Lancashire picture: across the county’s 480 state primaries, Kelbrook ranks 113th. The top-performing peers in the same LA — Crawford Village Primary, New Longton All Saints CofE, and St George’s Church of England in Chorley — all score higher on the same ranking metric, but Kelbrook holds its own as a solid local option. The school is led by headteacher Andrew Burcher and caters to 96 pupils aged 4 to 11, with capacity for 105. It’s a non-religious, mixed state school with no nursery or sixth form provision, and it does not offer boarding.

Academically, Kelbrook performs well above the local average. In the 2023/24 KS2 assessments, 71% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared to a Lancashire LA average of 60%. Reading was a particular strength, with 86% meeting expectations and 29% achieving the higher standard. Maths saw 71% at expected and 14% at higher, while writing matched reading’s 86% expected rate. Average scaled scores were 107 in reading and 104 in maths. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in September 2022, confirmed it remains Good — the same rating it has held since its previous graded inspection in 2013. Leadership and management, as well as overall effectiveness, were both judged Good. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Laneshaw Bridge Primary, 4.2 km away.

For families considering Kelbrook, the school offers a surprisingly broad set of facilities for its size, including an ICT suite, sports hall, gymnasium, forest school and even a chapel. Sports on offer include netball, rounders, cricket, swimming and football, while clubs range from gardening and drama to coding, choir, science and art. The school has identified SEND provisions for moderate learning difficulties and other difficulties or disabilities. Admissions are competitive: for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 47 applications for just 14 places, with 13 of those going to first-preference families — an oversubscription ratio of 3.36. With only 9.4% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school draws from a relatively less deprived catchment. This is a small, well-regarded village primary that suits families who value strong core academic results and a wide range of enrichment activities within a close-knit setting.

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