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St Alban's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn

Primary · Blackburn · BB1 5BN

Data updated

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Good

SchoolFacts estimate: Ofsted awarded no overall grade at this inspection

We show the lowest of the four areas Ofsted did judge, listed below. Why some schools have no overall grade →

Quality of education: GoodBehaviour & attitudes: GoodPersonal development: GoodLeadership & management: GoodSafeguarding effective: Yes

Inspected 24 September 2024

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

154 pupils · 73% of 210 capacity (January 2026 census)

School type
Voluntary aided school
Age range
3–11
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Free school meals
46% of pupils (January 2026)
English as additional language
41.4% of pupils (2024/2025)
SEN support
16.6% of pupils (2024/2025)
EHC plan
4.7% of pupils (2024/2025)
Nursery
Yes
Website
www.stalbansrcprimaryschool.co.uk/
URN
119706

In figures

For September 2026 entry, 16 families named it first for 19 Reception places, 0.84 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 inspection on 24 September 2024 Ofsted awarded no overall grade; the lowest of the four areas it judged was Good. 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

0.84 first-choice applications per place

19 places offered · 16 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.

How safe is a place here? Check your postcode

One free check a month, no account needed. No cutoff distance applied in 2026, so there is no boundary for your address to be inside of. The check shows how far you live from the school and how many rounds running it has placed every applicant. Premium adds unlimited checks, the nearby schools that do ration places by distance and whether you are inside them, and the address check across every school at once.

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

Key stage 2 results (2024/2025)

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

Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths
62%
England 62%
Reaching the higher standard
3%
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 school62%
Median of its 12 closest peers70%
Blackburn with Darwen average61.4%
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
St Augustine's Catholic Primary SchoolWarrington · 26 miles awayExpected standard53%
St John the Baptist Catholic Primary SchoolBrighton · 226 miles awayGood40%
Winyates Primary SchoolPeterborough · 123 miles awayOutstanding76%
Park Primary SchoolAldershot · 188 miles awayNo current grade67%
Thorntree Primary SchoolLondon · 189 miles awayExpected standard73%
Ark Bentworth Primary AcademyLondon · 181 miles awayGood77%
Reay Primary SchoolLONDON · 186 miles awayGood77%
Holy Cross Catholic Primary SchoolSt Helens · 23 miles awayNeeds attention44%
St Ambrose Catholic Primary SchoolStockport · 28 miles awayGood45%
Christ Church Primary SW9London · 186 miles awayGood (2019)73%
St Alphonsus RC Primary SchoolManchester · 22 miles awayGood76%
Our Lady and St Brendan's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary AcademyBradford · 31 miles awayExpected standard46%

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

Pupils by ethnicity (January 2026)

White British 29% (Blackburn with Darwen 39%, England 60%) · Asian Pakistani 27% (Blackburn with Darwen 28%, England 5%) · Any other Asian background 10% (Blackburn with Darwen 3%, England 2%) · Not recorded 9% (Blackburn with Darwen 0%, England 1%) · Any other ethnic group 6% (Blackburn with Darwen 2%, England 3%) · Asian Indian 4% (Blackburn with Darwen 16%, England 4%) · Any other White background 3% (Blackburn with Darwen 3%, England 7%) · Asian Bangladeshi 3% (Blackburn with Darwen 1%, England 2%) · Any other Mixed background 2% (Blackburn with Darwen 2%, England 3%) · Mixed White and Asian 2% (Blackburn with Darwen 1%, England 2%) · Black African 1% (Blackburn with Darwen 2%, England 5%) · White Irish 1% (Blackburn with Darwen 0%, England 0%) · Asian Chinese 1% (Blackburn with Darwen 0%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black African 1% (Blackburn with Darwen 0%, England 1%) · Mixed White and Black Caribbean 1% (Blackburn with Darwen 0%, England 2%) · White Traveller of Irish heritage 1% (Blackburn with Darwen 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)
26.7%
England 17.5%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions (2024/25)

0.00 suspensions per 100 pupils and 0 permanent exclusions · England, primary schools: 2.47 suspensions and 0.03 permanent exclusions per 100 pupils · Blackburn with Darwen: 2.20 suspensions and 0.05 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
20.5
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

100% of teachers stayed at the school the following year

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)

44.4% of teachers took sickness absence, 6.8 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 £60,035; 33.3% 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£8,804
Typical primary school£7,202

Where the money went (2025-26)

Share of spending, with the median for primary schools in brackets: Staff 78% (76%) · premises 5% (5%) · occupation (energy, rates, cleaning) 7% (8%) · supplies and services 10% (9%) · educational supplies 2% (4%) · bought-in professional services 5% (3%) · catering 5% (5%)

Reserves (2025-26)

Revenue reserve £54,604; in-year balance +£49,178

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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)
1/10among the most deprived tenth of England
Census 2021This areaEngland
Adults with a degree or higher22.9%33.9%
Adults with no qualifications34.6%18.1%
In managerial or professional work13.8%33.2%
Households deprived in two or more ways37.5%18.1%
Residents in very good health44.3%48.5%
Homes owned by the occupier40.1%62.3%
Social housing39.7%17.1%
Privately rented20.2%20.5%
Detached houses4.1%22.9%
Flats36.6%22.2%
Homes with four or more bedrooms16.9%21.1%
Households with no car or van48.3%23.5%

These figures describe the area, not the pupils. Source: Census 2021 (ONS) and English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG) for small area E01012643 · how to read area figures

What homes cost nearby

Median sale price
£130,000165 sales within 1 km, January 2024 to September 2026
Typical range
£105,000–£150,000the middle half of sales
England median
£300,000all sales over the same period
Semi-detached (28)£140,000
Terraced (114)£124,000
Flat (23)£136,500

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
4an urban school averages 2.0
Collisions at school-run times
7an urban school averages 5.7
All reported collisions
59an urban school averages 30.5
Of those, serious or fatal
23an 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