Chorley St James' Church of England Primary School

School overview

Chorley St James' Church of England Primary School is a primary school serving Chorley, Lancashire, classified by the DfE as a voluntary aided school with a Church of England religious character. It has 237 pupils aged 3 to 11 on roll. At its most recent graded inspection, Ofsted rated Chorley St James' Church of England Primary School 'Outstanding'. 58% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, broadly in line with the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has fallen by 12.0 percentage points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 102 in reading and 102 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 6% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). Chorley St James' Church of England Primary School is oversubscribed: about 8 in 10 of the families who made it their first choice were offered a Reception place for September 2026, with 35 first choices for 29 places. Overall pupil absence was 4.7%. There are about 23.5 pupils per teacher. Given the recent dip in results, it may be worth asking the school what is behind the change and what is being done in response. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.