The new school year has only just begun, but parents of children as young as three will be starting to weigh up their options for the next one.
Applications for a place at a state-funded primary school for 2026/27 are open now. Across Burnley, local families have until January 15 to get these in for their soon-to-be Reception-aged youngsters. Offers will then be sent out a couple of months later, on April 16.
To help parents out during the flurry of open days, school visits, filling out forms and making sure their child is ready for student status, we’ve revisited the top-performing state primary schools across the Burnley parliamentary constituency area, using our own special metric. The key figure it uses is the proportion of each school’s pupils that completed Year 6 in the most recently-available school year (currently 2023/24), and met the Government’s expected standards in three essential skills; reading, writing and maths.
We’ve only included the highest-achieving schools, those above the Lancashire County Council area’s average (or close to it). This data has now been finalised, so it is worth noting that results and placings may differ slightly from earlier reports based on interim results. Where multiple schools had the same percentage of young learners reach this target, they have been ordered alphabetically.
But performance certainly isn’t the only indicator of a wonderful school environment, so we’ve also made sure each one included had a positive rating in its most recent Ofsted inspection. These will be updated very soon, but for now, we’ve limited the list to schools with either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ overall grade under the previous system, or positive ratings across all categories under the more recent one. This means that quality of education, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and safeguarding practices all met or exceeded official standards.
Here were the 11 local schools which came out on top:
1. St John's CofE Primary School, Cliviger
At the top of the list is St John’s, a local authority-maintained Anglican primary school in the Cliviger area, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. It has a roll size of about 198 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, 81% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards for reading, writing, and maths – compared to averages of 60% in Lancashire and 61% nationally. | Google
2. Wellfield Methodist and Anglican Church School
This is an ecumenical maintained primary school in Burnley proper. It was most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted, and has about 203 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, 80% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards for reading, writing, and maths – compared to averages of 60% in Lancashire and 61% nationally. | Google
3. Casterton Primary Academy
Casterton is a primary academy in the Burnley Lane area, most recently rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. It has about 297 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, 78% of them met the Government’s expected standards for reading, writing, and maths – compared to averages of 60% in Lancashire and 61% nationally. | Google
4. Burnley Stoneyholme Community Primary School
This is a maintained primary school in the Stoneyholme area, with a roll size of about 423. In a recent Ofsted inspection, it was found to be ‘outstanding’ in all areas. In the 2023/24 school year, 69% of its pupils met the Government’s expected standards for reading, writing, and maths – compared to averages of 60% in Lancashire and 61% nationally. | Google