St James' Church of England Primary School
Off Stopes Brow, Darwen, BB3 0QP
202 pupils · 96% of 210 capacity
- Phase
- Primary
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 4–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Free school meals
- 25.2%
Ofsted
No overall grade (2024) — Inspected 2024–2025 — no overall grade under the interim framework
This school has not yet been inspected under the report-card system introduced in November 2025. When it is, this section will show a grade for each area — Ofsted says the new grades do not map onto the old ones, so we do not predict them.
Inspected 29 October 2024, published 8 December 2024. Read the full Ofsted report
England has three coexisting inspection systems — how we translate them into one signal.
Exam results
| Measure | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths | 50% |
| Reaching the higher standard | 4% |
“Not published (small cohort)” means the DfE suppressed the figure to protect small cohorts — it is not a zero.
Will my child get in?
Roughly one first choice per place — 1.03 first-choice applications per place (Sept 2026 entry)
| Entry | Places | 1st preferences | Total preferences | Offers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 2026 entry | 30 | 31 | 96 | 30 |
| Sept 2025 entry | 28 | 25 | 74 | 28 |
| Sept 2024 entry | 26 | 25 | 54 | 25 |
| Sept 2023 entry | 24 | 23 | 62 | 23 |
| Sept 2022 entry | 26 | 26 | 79 | 25 |
| Sept 2021 entry | 30 | 32 | 64 | 30 |
| Sept 2020 entry | 14 | 11 | 49 | 14 |
| Sept 2019 entry | 30 | 30 | 70 | 30 |
First-choice demand varies year to year, and the school’s admission criteria — not demand — decide who is offered a place. Use this as a rough signal, never a prediction.
Nearby alternatives
- Lower Darwen Primary School 0.7 km · Good (2023) · previous system
- Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn 1 km · Good — confirmed 2022 · previous system
- Longshaw Infant School 1.3 km · Most areas: Expected standard (2026)
- Longshaw Community Junior School 1.6 km · Good — confirmed 2022 · previous system
- Blackburn the Redeemer CofE Primary 1.7 km · No overall grade (2024)
- Shadsworth Junior School 1.8 km · Good (2019) · previous system
Straight-line distance — not travel time, and not a catchment. Same phase, open schools only.
Data from DfE and Ofsted open data (OGL v3) — sources. School record updated 10 July 2026. Report incorrect data.