SCHOOL PROFILE

St James' Church of England Primary School

Primary Academy converter URN 144689
Open
Pupils 8,834,192 Latest school census
Capacity 210 Published school capacity
Capacity used 100.0% Pupils as a share of capacity
Age range 4 – 11 Statutory age range
OFSTED

Latest inspection

21 April 2026
Latest published outcome Met
Renewed framework
Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum & teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance & behaviour Expected standard
Personal development Expected standard
Leadership & governance Expected standard
INSPECTION HISTORY

Previous Ofsted activity

8 February 2022
Graded inspection Good
Published 20 March 2022
SCHOOL DETAILS

About this school

School type Academy converter
Phase Primary
Gender Mixed
Religious character Church of England
Local authority Rochdale
Trust WATERGROVE TRUST
Census date 15 January 2026
PUPIL PROFILE

School community

Latest published pupil characteristics for 2025/26.

2025/26
Total pupils 210 210 full-time · 0 part-time
Female pupils 99 47.1% of pupils
Male pupils 111 52.9% of pupils

Free school meals

Pupils eligible for free school meals.

29.5%
4.7 pts above England
School 29.5%
Rochdale 33.0%
North West 28.5%
England 24.8%

English as an additional language

Pupils whose first language is not English.

1.0%
19.3 pts below England
School 1.0%
Rochdale 27.4%
North West 18.1%
England 20.3%

Young carers

Pupils recorded as young carers.

0.0%
1.0 pts below England
School 0.0%
Rochdale 0.5%
North West 0.8%
England 1.0%

Ethnicity

Largest recorded pupil groups.

White British
95.2%
200
Any other Mixed background
1.9%
4
Any other White background
1.0%
2
Pakistani
0.5%
1
White and Asian
0.5%
1
White and Black African
0.5%
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 18.6% 39 of 210 pupils
2.3 pts below England England: 20.8%
School 18.6%
Rochdale 22.4%
North West 22.1%
England 20.8%
SEN support 16.2% 34 pupils
England 14.8% 1.4 pts above
EHC plans 2.4% 5 pupils
England 6.0% 3.7 pts below
PRIMARY NEEDS

Most common identified needs

Pupils
Social, emotional & mental health 15
Speech, language & communication 7
Specific learning difficulty 6
Autistic spectrum disorder 3
Multi-sensory impairment 2
Vision impairment 2

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

57.0% 3.4 pts below England
School 57.0%
Rochdale 57.4%
North West 59.1%
England 60.4%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Reading

79.0%

5.2 pts above England

School 79.0%
Rochdale 71.1%
North West 73.2%
England 73.8%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Writing

79.0%

8.7 pts above England

School 79.0%
Rochdale 67.6%
North West 69.2%
England 70.3%
EXPECTED STANDARD

Maths

68.0%

4.0 pts below England

School 68.0%
Rochdale 70.6%
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

5.40%

Percentage of possible sessions missed.

0.81 pts lower than England
School 5.40%
Rochdale 6.78%
North West 6.25%
England 6.22%
ABSENCE RATE

Persistent absence

14.05%

Pupils missing 10% or more of sessions.

1.76 pts lower than England
School 14.05%
Rochdale 18.20%
North West 15.89%
England 15.82%
ABSENCE RATE

Severe absence

0.54%

Pupils missing 50% or more of sessions.

1.26 pts lower than England
School 0.54%
Rochdale 2.12%
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

100.0% 11.8 pts above England
St James' Church of England Primary School
100.0%
Rochdale
94.9%
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