St John's CofE Primary School, Cliviger

About St John's CofE Primary School, Cliviger

St John's CofE Primary School in Cliviger, a state primary in Burnley, holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained consistently across its two most recent inspections. The most recent ungraded inspection in January 2023 confirmed the school remains Good, with leadership and management also rated Good. But the standout metric is its Key Stage 2 performance: 81% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined in the 2023/24 academic year. That figure is significantly above the Lancashire local authority average of 60%, and it places the school first out of 28 primary schools in the Burnley area. Nationally, it sits in the top 10% of all primary schools, ranked 1,320th out of 13,686. For a small village school with just 196 pupils, these results tell a clear story of strong academic foundations.

Digging into the individual subjects, reading is a particular strength: 94% of pupils reached the expected standard, and 34% achieved a higher score. Writing and maths both saw 84% at expected, with maths averaging a score of 105. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher standard across all three subjects was 6%, which is modest but reflects the school's focus on securing solid foundations for the majority. The school's ranking score of 81 on the KS2 expected standard metric places it in the top 10% nationally and top 8% in the North West. While the data doesn't include progress scores, the raw attainment figures are strong enough to suggest that children here are leaving primary school well prepared for secondary education, particularly in reading where the average scaled score of 108 is notably high.

The school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26 entry, there were 81 applications for 29 places, with 26 of those going to first-preference families. That gives an oversubscription ratio of 2.79, so early application is wise. Facilities include a sports hall, playing fields, a forest school, art studios and a chapel, with clubs ranging from gardening and eco club to science club and choir. Sports on offer include football, cricket, tennis and swimming. The school supports a range of SEND needs, including dyslexia, speech and language difficulties, and autistic spectrum disorder. With a Church of England character and a headteacher in Naomi Healey, this is a school that suits families who value strong academic outcomes in a village setting, but who are prepared to compete for a place.

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