St Mary's CofE Primary School Rawtenstall

About St Mary's CofE Primary School Rawtenstall

St Mary's CofE Primary School Rawtenstall is a Church of England primary in Rossendale that currently teaches 184 pupils, leaving it with 26 spare places against a capacity of 210. That spare capacity is notable given the school is oversubscribed for 2025/26: it received 50 applications for just 15 places, with 14 of those coming as first preferences. The oversubscription ratio sits at 3.33, meaning more than three families applied for every spot. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals stands at 22.3 per cent, which is above the national average for primary schools and suggests the school serves a relatively disadvantaged catchment. The school is mixed, non-selective and takes children from age 4 to 11. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in March 2025, confirmed that standards are being maintained, and the school retains its overall Good rating. The previous graded inspection in 2015 had also rated it Good, a clear improvement from the Requires Improvement judgement it received in 2014.

At Key Stage 2, 57 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is slightly below the Lancashire local authority average of 60 per cent. The school ranks 18th out of 31 primary schools in Rossendale on this measure, placing it in the bottom half of the local authority. In individual subjects, reading saw 73 per cent of pupils reach the expected standard and 17 per cent reach the higher standard, while in writing 70 per cent met the expected level and 10 per cent achieved the higher mark. Maths results were a little weaker: 63 per cent reached the expected standard and 20 per cent the higher standard, with an average scaled score of 102. Nationally, the school sits in the 65th percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly a third of primary schools across England. The parent view survey, based on 41 responses collected between September 2024 and September 2025, shows strong satisfaction: 85 per cent of parents agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy, and 88 per cent felt their child does well at the school.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a gymnasium, sports hall, music rooms, ICT suite, art studios, a forest school area and a chapel. Sports provision covers cricket, dance, gymnastics, netball, athletics, football and rounders, while clubs include coding, chess, choir, book club, film club and drama. SEND support is available for pupils with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. The parent view data on SEND support is unfortunately too sparse to draw conclusions, with no responses recorded for that question. The nearest outstanding-rated primary school is St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School in Haslingden, 1.7 km away. For families who value a Church of England ethos and a school that feels genuinely popular in the local area, St Mary's Rawtenstall offers a solid package with strong parent endorsement, though its academic results sit just below the local average.

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