Longton Primary School

About Longton Primary School

Longton Primary School sits within the Lancashire local authority, a mixed state primary for children aged 4 to 11, and is one of 480 primary schools in the area. In the most recent local rankings, it placed 184th, placing it comfortably within the middle of the pack. For context, the top-performing peers in the same authority include Crawford Village Primary School, New Longton All Saints CofE Primary School, and St George's Church of England Primary School, Chorley, all of which score higher on the same ranking metric. Longton itself ranks 19th out of 35 schools within the South Ribble borough, putting it just above the halfway point. The school is led by headteacher Julie Brown and has a capacity of 210 pupils, with 203 currently on roll. It is a non-religious school with no formal sixth form, though it does offer nursery provision. The school is notably oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, receiving 94 applications for 30 places, with 29 offers going to first-preference families.

Academically, Longton Primary performs solidly against local benchmarks. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, 66% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is above the Lancashire local authority average of 60%. However, only 10% of pupils reached the higher standard across all three subjects. In individual subjects, reading saw 79% of pupils at the expected level and 24% at the higher level, while writing had 76% at expected and 24% at higher. Maths results were slightly lower, with 66% at expected and 34% at higher. Average scores were 106 in reading and 104 in maths. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in January 2025 rated it Good overall, with personal development judged Outstanding. This is a step down from its previous Outstanding rating in 2014, but the inspection noted strong behaviour and attitudes, and good leadership and management.

The school offers a broad range of facilities including a library, music rooms, playing fields, gymnasium, dining hall and chapel. Sports provision is strong, with gymnastics, rounders, tennis, cricket, swimming, athletics and football all on offer, plus clubs such as chess, coding, book club and eco club. For families with children who have special educational needs, the school lists provisions for dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, hearing impairment, and other difficulties. Parent feedback is overwhelmingly positive: 98% of respondents would recommend the school, and 97% strongly agreed or agreed that their child is happy there. With 6.4% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively low-deprivation intake. Given its oversubscription, families should be prepared to apply early and list it as a first preference to maximise their chances of a place.

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