St Barnabas and St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

St Barnabas and St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School at a glance

Located in Blackburn with Darwen, St Barnabas and St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is a primary school, classified by the DfE as a voluntary aided school with a Church of England religious character. The school educates roughly 421 pupils aged 4 to 11. Ofsted judged the school to be 'Good' at its most recent inspection. 70% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of Key Stage 2, above the national average (national figure: 61%). The proportion reaching the expected standard has fallen by 3.0 percentage points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the top 40% of primary schools nationally.

Pupils achieved an average scaled score of 106 in reading and 107 in maths (national averages are about 105 and 104). 7% reached the higher standard across all three subjects (around 8% do so nationally). 93% of the families who made St Barnabas and St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School their first choice were offered a Reception place for September 2026, even though the school made at least as many offers as it had first choices - the rest withdrew, moved or fell outside a priority group. In 2026 the furthest child offered a place lived 0.52 miles from the school in a straight line, according to the council's published allocation figures; the distance changes every year with demand. Overall pupil absence was 3.7%. There are about 20.2 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.