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Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School

Primary · Accrington · BB5 1DW

Data updated

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Needs attention

Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)

The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.

Ofsted placed this school in a statutory category of concern, requires significant improvement, at the inspection of 20 January 2026. It stands until a later inspection lifts it.

Safeguarding: MetCurriculum & teaching: Needs attentionAchievement: Needs attentionAttendance & behaviour: Expected standardPersonal development: Expected standardInclusion: Needs attentionLeadership & governance: Needs attentionEarly years: Urgent improvementPost-16: Not applicable

Inspected 20 January 2026 · report published 26 March 2026

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

176 pupils · 84% of 210 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Voluntary aided school
Age range
5–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Church of England
Free school meals
47.2% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
29.5% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
17.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
2.6% of pupils (2024/2025)
Website
www.st-marymagdalens.lancs.sch.uk/
URN
119446

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 21 families named it first for 27 Reception places, 0.78 first choices per place. We hold one Reception admissions round for it, 2026 entry, and it was not decided by a published distance. At its report-card inspection on 20 January 2026, under the system Ofsted introduced in November 2025, the Achievement area was judged Needs attention. In the 2025/26 autumn and spring terms its pupils missed 6.7% of sessions, against 6.6% across England.

Admissions demand: Reception entry, September 2026

0.78 first-choice applications per place

27 places offered · 21 first-choice applications · usually has places

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Source: DfE applications and offers on national offer day · how demand is measured

Catchment area

Catchment area: not named in the council's figures. Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

Admissions cutoff distance: Reception

Every applicant was offered a place for 2026 entry, so distance was not needed to decide places.

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Source: the admissions authority's published figures · how cutoffs work

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

26 pupils at the end of key stage 2 in 2024/2025

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
58%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
0%
England 8%
Average scaled score (reading)
104
England 106
Average scaled score (maths)
102
England 105

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · what “suppressed” means

Schools with a similar intake

Meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 2024/2025

This school58%
Median of its 12 closest peers62%
Lancashire average60.9%
England62%

On meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, this school is behind the schools that teach a comparable intake.

They are matched on intake, not location, so most are not local: see nearby schools for those you could apply to.

SchoolOfstedResult
Ash Hill Primary SchoolHigh Wycombe · 162 miles awayUrgent improvement43%
Great Harwood Primary SchoolBlackburn · 3 miles awayGood52%
Bishop Lonsdale Church of England Primary School and NurseryDerby · 69 miles awayExpected standard61%
Sunnyside Spencer AcademyNottingham · 74 miles awayOutstanding80%
Salmestone Primary SchoolMargate · 228 miles awayGood (2019)66%
Greenlands Primary SchoolDartford · 196 miles awayExpected standard73%
St Alfege with St Peter's Church of England Primary SchoolLondon · 186 miles awayExpected standard63%
The Bramble AcademyMansfield · 63 miles awayGood40%
Ark Conway Primary AcademyLondon · 179 miles awayOutstanding86%
St John's Church of England Primary AcademyWednesbury · 85 miles awayGood73%
Darwen St James CofE Primary AcademyDarwen · 5 miles awayRequires improvement37%
George Grenville AcademyBuckingham · 135 miles awayGood40%

It is not a ranking. Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · how the matching works

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 60% (Lancashire 74%, England 60%) · Asian Pakistani 23% (Lancashire 8%, England 5%) · Any other Asian background 4% (Lancashire 2%, England 2%) · Black African 3% (Lancashire 2%, England 5%) · Any other ethnic group 3% (Lancashire 1%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 3% (Lancashire 3%, England 4%) · Any other White background 2% (Lancashire 3%, England 7%) · Any other Mixed background 1% (Lancashire 2%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 1% (Lancashire 1%, England 2%) · White Irish 1% (Lancashire 0%, England 0%)

Source: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026 census · how to read these figures

Attendance (2025/26 autumn and spring terms)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
6.7%
England 6.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
21.8%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

2.63 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Lancashire: 2.62 suspensions and 0.07 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils

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Source: DfE pupil absence data, autumn and spring terms, and DfE suspensions and permanent exclusions, school-level file · how absence is measured · how to read exclusions

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
23.5
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

76% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 24% left the state-funded sector

Vacancies (November 2025)

0% of teaching posts vacant, 0% filled temporarily · England, council-maintained primaries: 0.18% vacant, 0.36% temporary

Teacher sickness absence (reported in the November 2024 census)

80% of teachers took sickness absence, 38.3 days each on average · England, all state-funded schools: 61.8%, 8.1 days

Teacher pay (November 2025)

Mean salary of full-time qualified teachers £43,002; 12.5% on the leadership pay range · England, primary schools: £50,856, 17.3%

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Source: DfE School Workforce Census · how these figures are counted

Spending per pupil (2025-26)

This school£8,709
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 74% (76%) · premises 4% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 7% (8%) · supplies and services 16% (9%) · educational supplies 5% (4%) · bought-in professional services 9% (3%) · catering 4% (5%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £132,733; in-year balance -£23,382

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Higher spending is not a measure of quality. Source: council-maintained school finance return, 2025-26, DfE · how spending is compared

Inspection history since 2015

Source: Ofsted management information · ungraded visits and the two inspection systems

The area around the school

Child poverty (IDACI)
3/10more deprived than most of England
Overall deprivation (IMD)
2/10among the most deprived fifth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher21.6%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications32.2%18.1%
In managerial or professional work19.4%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways28.7%18.1%
Residents in very good health37.1%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier55.5%62.3%
Social housing28.5%17.1%
Privately rented15.6%20.5%
Detached houses7%22.9%
Flats15.9%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms8.7%21.1%
Households with no car or van31.1%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01025058 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£115,000454 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£85,000–£148,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Detached (28)£228,000
Semi-detached (95)£160,000
Terraced (326)£99,000
Flat (5)£55,000

Homes around this school are among the cheapest tenth of school neighbourhoods in England, comparing the median within 1 km across every state school.

Source: HM Land Registry sales within 1 km since January 2024 · how sales are counted. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Postcodes located with OS Code-Point Open: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026; contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026; contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Roads around the school

Child pedestrian casualties
12an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
12an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
62an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
17an urban school averages 6.1

A high count usually reflects traffic, not an unsafe school. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions within 500 m, 2021–2025 · what is counted

Nearby schools