St James' Church of England Primary School Blackburn
Earl Street, Blackburn, BB1 8EG
395 pupils · 82% of 480 capacity
- Phase
- Primary
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 2–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Free school meals
- 23.8%
Ofsted
Good (2022) — Ungraded inspection — “School remains Good” (previous grade confirmed, not re-graded)
This school has not yet been inspected under the report-card system introduced in November 2025. When it is, this section will show a grade for each area — Ofsted says the new grades do not map onto the old ones, so we do not predict them.
Inspected 7 December 2022, published 30 January 2023. Read the full Ofsted report
England has three coexisting inspection systems — how we translate them into one signal.
Exam results
| Measure | 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Reaching the expected standard in reading, writing & maths | 66% |
| Reaching the higher standard | 2% |
“Not published (small cohort)” means the DfE suppressed the figure to protect small cohorts — it is not a zero.
Will my child get in?
Roughly one first choice per place — 0.96 first-choice applications per place (Sept 2026 entry)
| Entry | Places | 1st preferences | Total preferences | Offers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 2026 entry | 45 | 43 | 109 | 45 |
| Sept 2025 entry | 38 | 36 | 105 | 38 |
| Sept 2024 entry | 43 | 35 | 108 | 43 |
| Sept 2023 entry | 40 | 35 | 81 | 39 |
| Sept 2022 entry | 26 | 22 | 67 | 26 |
| Sept 2021 entry | 41 | 33 | 77 | 36 |
| Sept 2020 entry | 46 | 32 | 72 | 39 |
| Sept 2019 entry | 49 | 40 | 85 | 47 |
First-choice demand varies year to year, and the school’s admission criteria — not demand — decide who is offered a place. Use this as a rough signal, never a prediction.
Nearby alternatives
- Brookhouse Primary School 0.5 km · Good — confirmed 2022 · previous system
- St Michael With St John CofE Primary School 0.7 km · Good — confirmed 2022 · previous system
- Cedars Primary School 0.7 km · Good (2019) · previous system
- Queen Elizabeth's Primary School 0.9 km · No Ofsted rating
- St Alban's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn 1 km · No overall grade (2024)
- St Anne's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn 1.1 km · Most areas: Expected standard (2026)
Straight-line distance — not travel time, and not a catchment. Same phase, open schools only.
Data from DfE and Ofsted open data (OGL v3) — sources. School record updated 10 July 2026. Report incorrect data.