Darwen, St Barnabas CofE Primary Academy
Primary · Academy converter · Mixed · Blackburn with Darwen
Knowlesly Road, Darwen, BB3 2JA
67
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
88%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
96.3%
5.6% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
207
Capacity used
Nearly full99%
210 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Primary entry · official council applications and offers
88%
1st preference success rate
30 of 34 families who put it first got an offer
30
Places offered
86
Total applications
2.9
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 34 | 30 | ● 88% |
| 2nd preference | 37 | 0 | ● 0% |
| 3rd preference | 15 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 86 | 30 | 35% |
1st preference success by year
Blackburn with Darwen lets families list 3 preferences. 1 applications came from outside the council area (0 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Primary
- Age range
- 4–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Rebecca Ham
- Address
- Knowlesly Road, Darwen, BB3 2JA
- Phone
- 01254702996
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Ward / constituency
- West Pennine · Rossendale and Darwen
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 141483
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 9% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 1% | — | — |
| SEN support | 4% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: CIDARI EDUCATION LIMITED
207 pupils · 210 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
29 March 2023
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 178 pupils
Attendance
96.3%
Share of sessions attended · England 94.5%
Overall absence
3.6%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 5.5%
Persistent absence
5.6%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 14.6%
Severe absence
0.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
0.8%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
Primary results (Key Stage 2)
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expected standard in reading, writing & maths | 67% | — | — |
| Higher standard | 17% | — | — |
| Reading progress | — | — | 0.0 |
| Writing progress | — | — | 0.0 |
| Maths progress | — | — | 0.0 |
Primary results by subject (SATs)
Year 6 pupils meeting each standard, against England
Reading, writing & maths combined
Reading
Writing
Maths
Grammar, punctuation & spelling
Science
England average · Scaled scores run 80–120 (100 = expected standard).
Primary results over time
Expected standard (RWM) by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Expected standard (RWM) | 65% | 61% |
| Higher standard | 0% | 8% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Blackburn with Darwen council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Reception (primary) | 15 January | 16 April (or next working day) |
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.