St Wulstan's Catholic Primary School, Great Harwood

About St Wulstan's Catholic Primary School, Great Harwood

St Wulstan's Catholic Primary School in Great Harwood sits slightly below the Lancashire local authority average for its key stage 2 headline measure. While the LA average for pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined is 60%, St Wulstan's achieves 57%. That three-point gap is modest, but it places the school in the bottom half of primary schools nationally, at the 64th percentile. Within Hyndburn, the school ranks 13th out of 31 primary schools, putting it in the middle of the pack locally. The school's Progress 8 scores are not available, so it's hard to say how much value the school adds on top of pupils' starting points, but the raw attainment figures suggest a solid, if unspectacular, performance relative to its immediate neighbours.

Digging into the individual subject results, the picture is more mixed. In reading, 74% of pupils met the expected standard, and the average scaled score of 102 is in line with national expectations. Writing also saw 74% reach the expected level, with a notably higher 22% working at greater depth. Maths is the weaker area: only 61% hit the expected standard, and just 9% achieved the higher standard. The average maths score of 100 is exactly the national baseline. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023 rated it Good across all categories, including behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision. This is consistent with its previous Good rating from 2013, so the school has maintained a steady quality of education over the decade.

The school is a Roman Catholic primary with a chapel on site, and it offers a range of facilities including music rooms, art studios, playing fields and a gymnasium. Sports provision is strong, with football, netball, cricket, tennis and cross country all on offer, plus clubs for coding, gardening and chess. The school has a significant SEND focus, with provisions for social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication, multi-sensory impairment and physical disability. With 31.7% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a relatively disadvantaged catchment. It is oversubscribed: for 18 places in 2025/26, there were 58 applications, a ratio of 3.22 to one, and 17 first-preference offers were made. This is a school that will suit families seeking a faith-based primary with a broad extracurricular offer and strong pastoral support, but who are comfortable with attainment that is slightly below the county average.

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