Ofsted: Good trending_up Places Available emoji_events #50 in Blackburn with Darwen public Top 99% UK

St Aidan's Primary School - A Church of England Academy

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

person Mrs Kelly Harrison (Headteacher)

corporate_fareCIDARI EDUCATION LIMITED

location_onBlackburn, BB2 4EW

language Visit Website phone 0125453148

verified

Ofsted

Good

Inspected 2025

groups

Students

203

school

Expected Standard

23%

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Demand Ratio

0.8x

summarize

St Aidan's Primary School - A Church of England Academy is a Academy sponsor led primary school in Blackburn, serving ages 4-11. Rated Good by Ofsted. Ranks in the top 99% of primary schools nationally.

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School Summary

St Aidan's Primary School - A Church of England Academy is an academy sponsor led in Blackburn, Blackburn with Darwen, admitting pupils aged 4-11. It is part of CIDARI EDUCATION LIMITED. The school has approximately 182 pupils on roll, of whom 55% are eligible for free school meals.

In 2025, 23% of pupils met the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths combined. The school ranks #50 of 51 primaries in Blackburn with Darwen and #13,746 of 14,159 nationally.

Ofsted last inspected the school in 2025. The school's current overall rating is Good. Inspectors assessed quality of education as Good, behaviour and attitudes Good, personal development Good, and leadership and management Good.

In the most recent admissions cycle, applications were at 0.8× capacity.

The pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio is 16.7:1. There are no current teaching vacancies.

In the 2024/25 academic year, there were no permanent exclusions. The average suspension rate was 5.4 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

23%

LA 61%

Reading38% LA 73%

Writing50% LA 70%

Maths50% LA 74%

Read SS

Maths SS

GPS SS

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2024

R/W/M Expected Standard

41%

LA 57%England 61%

Reading63% LA 70% · Eng 74%

Writing48% LA 67% · Eng 72%

Maths70% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Read SS

104

Maths SS

103

GPS SS

104

Progress (0 = national avg)

Read

Write

Maths

2023

R/W/M Expected Standard

27%

LA 57%England 60%

Reading65% LA 70% · Eng 73%

Writing31% LA 69% · Eng 71%

Maths38% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Read SS

100

Maths SS

GPS SS

100

Progress (0 = national avg)

-3.3

Read

LA -0.5

-5.8 to -0.8

-6.5

Write

LA 0.0

-8.9 to -4.1

-4.4

Maths

LA -0.1

-6.7 to -2.0

2019

R/W/M Expected Standard

43%

LA 63%England 65%

Reading54% LA 72% · Eng 73%

Writing46% LA 77% · Eng 78%

Maths61% LA 79% · Eng 79%

Read SS

100

Maths SS

101

GPS SS

103

Progress (0 = national avg)

0.3

Read

LA 0.4

-2.1 to 2.6

-3.7

Write

LA 0.4

-5.9 to -1.6

0.3

Maths

LA 0.8

-1.7 to 2.3

2018

R/W/M Expected Standard

35%

LA 62%

Reading42% LA 73%

Writing58% LA 75%

Maths46% LA 76%

Read SS

Maths SS

GPS SS

100

Progress (0 = national avg)

-1.1

Read

LA 0.1

-3.4 to 1.2

-1.8

Write

LA 0.4

-4 to 0.4

-2.5

Maths

LA 0.6

-4.6 to -0.4

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Ranking History & Trajectory

National & Local Authority position based on DfE performance data · Methodology

Year	Primary Overall (Nat)	LA Rank	Attainment	Progress
2025	#13,746 / 14,159	#50	#13,959	#1
2024	#11,920 / 14,233	#42	#12,237	#1
2023	#13,156 / 13,940	#47	#13,033	#13,273
2019	#9,886 / 11,810	#44	#11,004	#8,685
2018	#10,390 / 10,972	#45	#10,589	#9,384

Ofsted History

Publication Timeline

Report Archive

11 February 2025

Inspection Report

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14 January 2020

Inspection Report

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19 September 2017

Inspection Report

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Inspection Report

Inspection History

4 Evaluations

2025-02-11

S5 Inspection EIF

Report Card

info

Why no single overall grade?

From autumn 2024 / 2025, Ofsted replaced single-word headline grades (Outstanding / Good / RI / Inadequate) with individual area judgements on a Report Card.

Education

Good

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Good

verified_user Safeguarding: Met

2020-01-14

Requires Improvement S5 Reinspection Visit 1 EIF

Good

Education

Good

Behaviour

Good

Development

Good

Leadership

Good

verified_user Safeguarding: Met

2017-09-19

Academy First Section 5 Legacy

Requires improvement

Education

No Judgement

Behaviour

No Judgement

Development

No Judgement

Leadership

Requires improvement

verified_user Safeguarding: Met

2014-01-08

None Legacy

Inadequate

Education

Inadequate

Leadership

Inadequate

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

5.4%per term

warning Above Average

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

Pupils Suspended 1+ Times

4.8%(9 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 186 pupils. During this period, there were 10 temporary suspensions. The school's suspension rate was 5.4%, which is above the termly national average of 0.8%.

View Historical Disciplinary Records (2017–2025)keyboard_arrow_down

Year / Term	Headcount	Suspensions	Susp. Rate	Nat. Avg	Perm. Excl.
2024/25 (Spring term)	186	10	5.4%	0.8%	0
2024/25 (Autumn term)	187	10	5.3%	0.9%	0
2023/24 (Summer term)	203	6	3.0%	0.8%	0
2023/24 (Spring term)	201	2	1.0%	0.7%	0
2023/24 (Autumn term)	198	4	2.0%	0.8%	0
2022/23 (Summer term)	194	6	3.1%	0.7%	0
2022/23 (Spring term)	203	1	0.5%	0.6%	0
2022/23 (Autumn term)	203	7	3.4%	0.6%	0
2021/22 (Summer term)	206	3	1.5%	0.5%	0
2021/22 (Spring term)	199	3	1.5%	0.5%	0
2021/22 (Autumn term)	199	4	2.0%	0.5%	0
2020/21 (Summer term)	193	0	0.0%	0.4%	0
2020/21 (Spring term)	188	2	1.1%	0.1%	0
2020/21 (Autumn term)	184	2	1.1%	0.4%	0
2019/20 (Summer term)	185	0	0.0%	0.0%	0
2019/20 (Spring term)	185	1	0.5%	0.4%	0
2019/20 (Autumn term)	184	2	1.1%	0.6%	0
2018/19 (Summer term)	183	2	1.1%	0.4%	0
2018/19 (Spring term)	190	0	0.0%	0.5%	0
2018/19 (Autumn term)	187	1	0.5%	0.5%	1
2017/18 (Summer term)	183	6	3.3%	0.5%	1
2017/18 (Spring term)	180	5	2.8%	0.4%	0
2017/18 (Autumn term)	175	9	5.1%	0.5%	0
2016/17 (Summer term)	180	2	1.1%	0.4%	0
2016/17 (Spring term)	171	5	2.9%	0.4%	0
2016/17 (Autumn term)	175	3	1.7%	0.5%	1

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 26 pupils

Social, Emotional & Mental Health 19 pupils

Moderate Learning Difficulty 7 pupils

Autistic Spectrum Disorder 6 pupils

Physical Disability 2 pupils