SCHOOL PROFILE

Higham St John's Church of England Primary School

Primary Voluntary controlled school URN 119387
Open
Pupils 8,834,192 Latest school census
Capacity 140 Published school capacity
Capacity used 85.7% Pupils as a share of capacity
Age range 4 – 11 Statutory age range
OFSTED

Latest inspection

27 January 2026
Latest published outcome Met
Renewed framework
Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Needs attention
Curriculum & teaching Urgent improvement
Achievement Needs attention
Attendance & behaviour Needs attention
Personal development Expected standard
Leadership & governance Urgent improvement
INSPECTION HISTORY

Previous Ofsted activity

15 September 2021
Ungraded inspection School remains Good
Published 11 October 2021
SCHOOL DETAILS

About this school

School type Voluntary controlled school
Phase Primary
Gender Mixed
Religious character Church of England
Local authority Lancashire
Trust Not applicable
Census date 15 January 2026
PUPIL PROFILE

School community

Latest published pupil characteristics for 2025/26.

2025/26
Total pupils 120 120 full-time · 0 part-time
Female pupils 59 49.2% of pupils
Male pupils 61 50.8% of pupils

Free school meals

Pupils eligible for free school meals.

19.2%
5.6 pts below England
School 19.2%
Pendle 33.8%
North West 28.5%
England 24.8%

English as an additional language

Pupils whose first language is not English.

19.2%
1.1 pts below England
School 19.2%
Pendle 36.6%
North West 18.1%
England 20.3%

Young carers

Pupils recorded as young carers.

0.0%
1.0 pts below England
School 0.0%
Pendle 0.2%
North West 0.8%
England 1.0%

Ethnicity

Largest recorded pupil groups.

White British
65.0%
78
Pakistani
32.5%
39
Unclassified
1.7%
2
White and Asian
0.8%
1
Council, regional and national comparisons are pupil-weighted using published school census counts.
ADDITIONAL NEEDS

Special educational needs

Pupils receiving SEN support or with an education, health and care plan.

2025/26
Pupils with SEN 15.8% 19 of 120 pupils
5.0 pts below England England: 20.8%
School 15.8%
Pendle 20.1%
North West 22.1%
England 20.8%
SEN support 12.5% 15 pupils
England 14.8% 2.3 pts below
EHC plans 3.3% 4 pupils
England 6.0% 2.7 pts below
PRIMARY NEEDS

Most common identified needs

Pupils
Specific learning difficulty 9
Speech, language & communication 4
Autistic spectrum disorder 3
Other difficulty or disability 1
Social, emotional & mental health 1
Vision impairment 1

SEN comparisons are pupil-weighted using published 2025/26 Department for Education school-level data. Primary needs combine pupils receiving SEN support and pupils with EHC plans.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Key stage 2 outcomes

Published Department for Education results for 2024/25.

2024/25
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading, writing & maths

53.0% 7.4 pts below England
School 53.0%
Pendle 61.9%
North West 59.1%
England 60.4%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading

76.0%

2.2 pts above England

School 76.0%
Pendle 75.5%
North West 73.2%
England 73.8%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Writing

59.0%

11.3 pts below England

School 59.0%
Pendle 69.9%
North West 69.2%
England 70.3%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Maths

82.0%

10.0 pts above England

School 82.0%
Pendle 76.2%
North West 71.7%
England 72.0%
School results show the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard. Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages and are not pupil-weighted official attainment rates.
ATTENDANCE & ABSENCE

Attendance profile

Published Department for Education absence data for 2024/25. Lower absence rates are generally better.

2024/25
ABSENCE RATE

Overall absence

4.86%

Percentage of possible sessions missed.

1.36 pts lower than England
School 4.86%
Pendle 6.23%
North West 6.25%
England 6.22%
ABSENCE RATE

Persistent absence

11.21%

Pupils missing 10% or more of sessions.

4.61 pts lower than England
School 11.21%
Pendle 16.95%
North West 15.89%
England 15.82%
ABSENCE RATE

Severe absence

1.72%

Pupils missing 50% or more of sessions.

0.08 pts lower than England
School 1.72%
Pendle 1.50%
North West 1.75%
England 1.80%
Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages rather than pupil-weighted official absence rates.
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

School context

Comparison with open primary schools.

CAPACITY

Capacity utilisation

85.7% 2.5 pts below England
Higham St John's Church of England Primary School
85.7%
Pendle
88.5%
North West
90.6%
England
88.2%
Benchmarks use open schools in the same phase. Capacity utilisation is calculated from published pupil and capacity figures.
Sources: Department for Education · Get Information about Schools · Ofsted monthly management information