Colne Primet Academy

Colne Primet Academy is a smaller-than-average secondary school within the Pendle Education Trust, serving a community with above-average free school meals eligibility. This was a full section 5 inspection. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school is fulfilling expected standards in attendance and behaviour, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Leaders have improved attendance towards national averages and reduced persistent and severe absence, while behaviour has improved considerably, with fewer suspensions and calm classrooms. Pupils feel safe, cared for and proud to belong to the 'Primet family'. Inclusion is a notable strength: pupils joining mid-year and pupils who speak English as an additional language are welcomed and supported, SEND needs are identified swiftly, and disadvantaged pupils are helped to access opportunities and bespoke support. However, achievement and curriculum and teaching require further attention. Pupils' achievement is inconsistent across classrooms, and some pupils, including those with SEND, are not supported well enough to overcome gaps in learning or misconceptions. GCSE attainment and Progress 8 remain below national averages, and some pupils cannot meet entry requirements for their next steps in further education, employment or training. Teaching quality varies, particularly in identifying misconceptions and addressing gaps in prior knowledge, and improvements have not yet embedded consistently. Early reading and spelling support is effective, but support for early mathematical knowledge and handwriting is less effective. Leaders have appropriate plans and staff feel well supported, but the next steps rightly focus on continuing to improve attendance, providing targeted foundational support, ensuring consistent use of gap-identification strategies, and embedding teaching improvements to raise GCSE attainment and prepare all pupils, including the vulnerable, for their next steps.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding.
• Strategic attendance work has improved overall rates and reduced persistent and severe absence.
• Behaviour has improved considerably, with fewer suspensions and calm classrooms.
• Pupils feel safe, cared for and confident that discriminatory behaviour and bullying are dealt with quickly.
• Inclusion is strong: pupils joining mid-year and EAL pupils are welcomed and supported.
• SEND needs are identified swiftly and teachers generally know how to support SEND pupils.
• Disadvantaged pupils are supported to access trips, clubs and bespoke resilience and self-esteem support.
• Leaders understand the local context and prioritise support for vulnerable pupils.
• Governance and trust leaders fulfil statutory duties and keep pupils' best interests central.
• Staff are positive about leadership support for behaviour, workload and professional development.
• The personal development programme is thoughtfully designed, with wide opportunities and strong pastoral support.
• Pupils receive high-quality careers guidance and next-step preparation.
• Pupils develop respect for diversity, protected characteristics and different religions.
• Early reading and spelling interventions are effective, especially for new arrivals and EAL pupils.
• Disadvantaged pupils' attainment is improving and broadly in line with national peers in some measures.
• Alternative provision and external agency links support pupils who struggle to engage.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement is inconsistent across classrooms and remains below national averages.
• GCSE attainment and Progress 8 are below national averages.
• Some pupils, including those with SEND, are not supported to overcome gaps in learning or misconceptions.
• Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8 remains well below the national average.
• Teaching quality varies in identifying misconceptions and addressing gaps in prior knowledge.
• Curriculum and teaching improvements have not yet embedded consistently across the school.
• Support for early mathematical knowledge gaps and handwriting is less effective than reading and spelling support.
• Attendance remains above the national average and persistent absence remains high.
• Some pupils cannot meet entry requirements for next steps in further education, employment or training.
• The proportion of pupils staying in education or employment after 16 is below the national average for 2023 leavers.

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 Colne Primet Academy attended 86.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 41.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

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, 23.1% of pupils at Colne Primet Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 6 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 Colne Primet Academy had 14.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

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, 19.0% of pupils at Colne Primet Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.9% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

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 secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Colne Primet Academy received £8,619 and spent £8,281 for each of its 863 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,566,000 (£1,815 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Pendle Education Trust, income was £7,922 and spending £7,503 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

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

Colne Primet Academy is part of Pendle Education Trust, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• Castercliff Primary School Nelson
• Pendle Primary Academy Nelson
• Casterton Primary Academy Burnley
• West Craven High School Barnoldswick

What is Colne Primet Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Colne Primet Academy is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Colne Primet Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Colne Primet Academy was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Colne Primet Academy have?

Colne Primet Academy has 805 pupils on roll.

What age range does Colne Primet Academy cover?

Colne Primet Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Colne Primet Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 37.1, and 25% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Colne Primet Academy?

Colne Primet Academy is at Dent Street, Colne, Lancashire, BB8 8JF.