Ofsted: Good trending_up Places Available emoji_events #34 in Blackburn with Darwen public Top 76% UK

St Matthew's Church of England Primary School

verifiedData: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

personMr Julian Rogers

location_onBlackburn, BB1 1DF

language Visit Website phone 1254291250

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2016

groups

Students

273

school

Expected Standard

53%

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Demand Ratio

1.0x

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St Matthew's Church of England Primary School is a Voluntary aided school primary school in Blackburn, serving ages 4-11. Rated Good by Ofsted. Ranks in the top 76% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

St Matthew's Church of England Primary School is a voluntary aided school in Blackburn, Blackburn with Darwen, admitting pupils aged 4-11. The school has approximately 271 pupils on roll, of whom 31% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 53% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined, with 3% achieving the higher standard. The school ranks #34 of 51 primaries in Blackburn with Darwen and #8,865 of 14,143 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2016. The school's current overall rating is Good.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 1.0× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 17.4:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 0.4 per 1,000 pupils per term.

verified Source: DfE 2024/25–2025/26 · Ofsted

Academic Performance

verified Data: UK Gov 2024/25

school

Primary Performance Trends (KS2)

2025

R/W/M Expected Standard

53%

LA 61%

Reading61% LA 73%

Writing53% LA 70%

Maths61% LA 74%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

104

GPS SS

109

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

54%

LA 57%England 61%

Reading67% LA 70% · Eng 74%

Writing59% LA 67% · Eng 72%

Maths64% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

108

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

41%

LA 57%England 60%

Reading54% LA 70% · Eng 73%

Writing51% LA 69% · Eng 71%

Maths69% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Read SS

102

Maths SS

102

GPS SS

106

Progress (0 = national avg)

-2.7

Read

LA -0.5

-4.7 to -0.6

-3.1

Write

LA 0.0

-5.1 to -1.2

-1.6

Maths

LA -0.1

-3.5 to 0.3

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

57%

LA 63%England 65%

Reading65% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing70% LA 77% · Eng 78%

Maths76% LA 79% · Eng 79%

Read SS

104

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

107

Progress (0 = national avg)

0.5

Read

LA 0.4

-1.6 to 2.5

-0.7

Write

LA 0.4

-2.6 to 1.2

0.5

Maths

LA 0.8

-1.3 to 2.2

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

74%

LA 62%

Reading80% LA 73%

Writing77% LA 75%

Maths77% LA 76%

Read SS

105

Maths SS

105

GPS SS

109

Progress (0 = national avg)

1.3

Read

LA 0.1

-0.7 to 3.3

0.6

Write

LA 0.4

-1.3 to 2.5

1.2

Maths

LA 0.6

-0.6 to 3

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

07 July 2021

Inspection Report

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07 July 2016

Inspection Report

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01 May 2014

Inspection Report

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14 January 2014

Inspection Report

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24 November 2010

Inspection Report

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18 September 2007

Inspection Report

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16 January 2007

Inspection Report

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27 June 2006

Inspection Report

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08 January 2001

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

2 Evaluations

2016-07-07

Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 1 Legacy

Good

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Good

2014-01-14

None Legacy

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

Wellbeing, SEN & Pastoral Care

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Behaviour & Discipline (Suspensions & Exclusions)

Official Department for Education (DfE) data. Suspensions measure temporary removals due to behavior, while exclusions represent permanent removals.

Suspension Rate

0.4%per term

sentiment_satisfied Below Average (Good)

National average: 0.8% for this term (primary).

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

0.4%(1 pupils)

Spring term 2025

Represents the proportion of unique students suspended at least once in this term.

Permanent Exclusions

0pupils

verified Excellent (Zero)

National average: 1.225% of pupils excluded per term.

Pastoral Context: In the Spring term of 2025, this school served a headcount of 271 pupils. During this period, there were 1 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 0.4%, which is below the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg
2024/25 (Spring term)	271	1	0.4%	0.8%
2024/25 (Autumn term)	274	1	0.4%	0.9%
2023/24 (Summer term)	281	3	1.1%	0.8%
2023/24 (Spring term)	276	1	0.4%	0.7%
2023/24 (Autumn term)	274	0	0.0%	0.8%
2022/23 (Summer term)	272	0	0.0%	0.7%
2022/23 (Spring term)	273	0	0.0%	0.6%
2022/23 (Autumn term)	272	0	0.0%	0.6%
2021/22 (Summer term)	277	0	0.0%	0.5%
2021/22 (Spring term)	276	1	0.4%	0.5%
2021/22 (Autumn term)	273	0	0.0%	0.5%
2020/21 (Summer term)	274	0	0.0%	0.4%
2020/21 (Spring term)	274	0	0.0%	0.1%
2020/21 (Autumn term)	272	1	0.4%	0.4%
2019/20 (Summer term)	274	0	0.0%	0.0%
2019/20 (Spring term)	274	0	0.0%	0.4%
2019/20 (Autumn term)	266	0	0.0%	0.6%
2018/19 (Summer term)	275	0	0.0%	0.4%
2018/19 (Spring term)	271	0	0.0%	0.5%
2018/19 (Autumn term)	269	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Summer term)	271	0	0.0%	0.5%
2017/18 (Spring term)	271	0	0.0%	0.4%
2017/18 (Autumn term)	276	0	0.0%	0.5%
2016/17 (Summer term)	273	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Spring term)	271	0	0.0%	0.4%
2016/17 (Autumn term)	269	0	0.0%	0.5%

Source: DfE Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions in England. Data represents termly statistics as published by the Department for Education.

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Supported Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Primary areas of need currently supported by the school. A high number often indicates specialized internal units or high staff experience in these areas.

Speech, Language & Communication 49 pupils

Specific Learning Difficulty 14 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 5 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 3 pupils

Physical Disability 3 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 2 pupils

Hearing Impairment 1 pupils

Visual Impairment 1 pupils

Other Difficulty/Disability 1 pupils