Duke Street Primary School

Duke Street Primary School is generally performing at the expected standard, with safeguarding met and most areas—attendance and behaviour, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing—judged expected. Inspectors found a nurturing, calm and orderly school where pupils attend well, behave positively, and benefit from strong inclusion, particularly for pupils with complex needs and education, health and care plans. Early years provision is a notable strength, with effective transition, a focus on vocabulary and communication, and staff who adapt teaching well to children's starting points. However, achievement and curriculum and teaching need attention. Pupils have not achieved highly enough in national tests at the end of key stage 2, with reading, writing and mathematics below national averages and a large disadvantaged attainment gap. In Years 1 to 6, teaching does not consistently help pupils retain important knowledge over time, and staff do not always check understanding carefully enough before moving on, so gaps in learning persist. Leaders have begun to address these weaknesses and there are signs of improvement, but the impact is not yet secure. The school has an above-average proportion of disadvantaged pupils and a well-above-average proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans, alongside rising numbers of pupils with complex barriers to learning or wellbeing. A new headteacher started in September 2026 and a new chair of governors has been appointed. Leaders are judged to have appropriate oversight and sensible improvement plans, though they do not always diagnose the underlying causes of underachievement precisely.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met and there is an open culture of safeguarding.
• Attendance has improved and is in line with national averages.
• Pupils behave well and school routines are calm and orderly.
• Early years provision supports children with low starting points and multiple barriers.
• Inclusion is a strength, especially for pupils with complex needs and EHC plans.
• Leaders collaborate closely with families and external professionals.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is nurturing and broad.
• Pupils benefit from trips, careers visitors, clubs and leadership roles.
• Staff feel proud to work at the school and value professional development.
• Governance provides warm support and clear challenge.

Areas for Improvement

• Key stage 2 attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is below national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils' achievement remains below national and the disadvantage gap is large.
• Teaching in Years 1 to 6 does not consistently promote long-term retention of knowledge.
• Staff do not consistently check what pupils know before learning moves on.
• Gaps in pupils' knowledge are not identified and remedied swiftly.
• Some pupils in Years 1 to 6 have gaps in learning in other subjects.
• Leaders do not always diagnose the underlying causes of underachievement precisely.
• Improvements to curriculum and teaching are ongoing but not yet fully effective.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Duke Street Primary School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.3% of pupils at Duke Street Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Duke Street Primary School had 20.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 15.5% of pupils at Duke Street Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 9.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Duke Street Primary School received £8,129 and spent £8,345 for each of its 317 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £203,000 (£641 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Chorley · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Duke Street Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Duke Street Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Duke Street Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Duke Street Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Duke Street Primary School have?

Duke Street Primary School has 317 pupils on roll.

What age range does Duke Street Primary School cover?

Duke Street Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Duke Street Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Duke Street Primary School?

Duke Street Primary School is at Duke Street, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 3DU.