Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn

Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School is performing well overall, with a consistent 'Good' rating in all areas evaluated. The school provides a welcoming environment where pupils feel safe and supported, allowing them to achieve both academically and personally. Strong relationships between pupils and staff contribute to positive behaviour and attitudes, with pupils demonstrating respect and politeness. The leadership prioritizes a broad and balanced curriculum designed to meet the needs of all students, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, some areas require attention to ensure consistency in curriculum delivery across all subjects.

Strengths

• Welcoming environment that supports all pupils.
• Strong relationships between pupils and staff.
• High expectations for behaviour are maintained.
• Effective systems for reporting concerns are in place.
• Broad and balanced curriculum designed for all learners.
• Successful phonics programme leading to confident readers.
• Pupils make positive contributions to their local community.
• Strong personal development programs for pupils.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent curriculum delivery in one or two subjects.
• Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough.

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 Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.1% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn 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 Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn had 24.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.8% 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, 5.3% of pupils at Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.3% 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 Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn received £7,819 and spent £7,937 for each of its 183 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £159,000 (£872 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 Blackburn · Blackburn with Darwen local authority: places and applications

What is Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn is Good, from an inspection in March 2023.

When was Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn last inspected by Ofsted?

Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn was last inspected in March 2023.

How many pupils does Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn have?

Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn has 189 pupils on roll.

What age range does Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn cover?

Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn?

Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn is at Wilworth Crescent, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 8QN.