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Black Firs Primary School

Primary Ages 3-11 372 pupils Congleton
All schools in Congleton

Black Firs Primary School is an academy converter in Congleton for pupils aged 3 to 11. It has 372 pupils on roll. In 2025, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

KS2 results: 2025.

Type Primary / Academy converter
Age Range 3-11
Religion Does not apply
Address Longdown Road
Congleton
Cheshire
CW12 4QJ
Phone 01260272935
Reference Number 140981

General Makeup

Number of pupils 372
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 53.23%
Girls: 46.77%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 6.7%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 0.8%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 30.8
Average size of Key Stage 1 classes taught by one teacher 30.3
Average size of Key Stage 2 classes taught by one teacher 29.3

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
1 21 26 47
2 21 23 44
3 26 20 46
4 21 25 46
5 24 23 47
6 22 15 37

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 92.5%
White & Black (Caribbean) 1.3%
Unclassified 1.1%
White & Asian 0.8%
African 0.8%
White, Other 0.5%
Indian 0.5%
White & Black (African) 0.5%
Mixed, Other 0.5%
Chinese 0.3%
Irish 0.3%
Pakistani 0.3%
Asian, Other 0.3%

Overall Ofsted Rating
Last Report Date 11 Oct 2022 – no overall grade published for this inspection
Date Report
11 Oct 2022 School inspection
19 Apr 2017 Short inspection
05 Jun 2014 Academy conversion letter
05 Nov 2013 Full inspection:
Previously as Black Firs Primary School
21 Sep 2011 Full inspection:
30 Jun 2010 Interim assessment
02 Oct 2006 Full inspection:
05 Jun 2001 Full inspection

How many students meet the standards

Reading, Writing & Maths School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Pupils meeting the expected standard 68%
Pupils meeting a higher standard 0%

Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Subject School Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 106
Maths 105

Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 1.1
Writing 1.2
Maths 1.4

How many students meet the standards

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Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

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Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

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Reception admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 48 2
Third Preference 30 0
From another Local Authority 1 1

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Black Firs Primary School had 314 pupils for 315 places. 1 places (0.3%) were unfilled.

Pupils and places

Reception intake in the “Congleton West” planning area

Cheshire East counted 141 Reception pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 142 in 2029–30, up 1%.

2015201620172018201920212022202320242025
Places 280280315315292292292315315315
Pupils 267292291283290302312309312314
Unfilled 4.6%0.0%7.6%10.2%0.7%0.0%0.0%1.9%1.0%0.3%

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 Black Firs Primary School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.9% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

2015201620172018201920212022202320242025
Authorised absence 3.1%3.3%3.3%3.9%2.6%3.9%4.1%3.5%4.6%3.5%
Unauthorised absence 0.0%0.1%0.1%0.5%0.7%0.4%0.9%1.2%0.8%0.5%
Severely absent pupils 0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.4%0.4%0.0%0.0%0.0%

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 Black Firs Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.5
Permanent exclusions 00000000000

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 Black Firs Primary School had 23.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2023–24, 17.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 17.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

2015201620172018201920202021202220242026
Pupils per adult 9.911.310.411.110.39.810.310.713.613.3
Teachers who left state teaching 8.6%0.0%7.1%0.0%14.4%14.3%8.3%7.4%8.6%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 16.7%0.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%–13.3%–––
Sick days per teacher 0.10.00.00.00.0–1.1–––

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, 11.6% of pupils at Black Firs Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Speech, language and communication needs 15 3
Autistic spectrum disorder 9 4
Moderate learning difficulty 7 2
No specialist assessment of need 5 0
Social, emotional and mental health 4 1
Specific learning difficulty 3 0
Multi-sensory impairment 0 1
Vision impairment 0 1

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 2024–25 Black Firs Primary School received £5,987 and spent £6,169 for each of its 355 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £77,000 (-£218 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of The Learning Partnership Academies Trust, income was £7,536 and spending £7,682 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue reserve £165,000£202,000£231,000£241,000£87,000-£53,000-£77,000
per pupil £535£626£703£697£235-£144-£218
In-year balance -£35,000£12,000£30,000£61,000-£165,000-£209,000-£65,000
per pupil -£114£38£92£177-£448-£569-£182

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.

Name Distance
The Quinta Primary School
Ullswater Road, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 4LX
0.48 miles
Saint Mary's Catholic Primary School
Belgrave Avenue, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 1HT
1.16 miles
Marlfields Primary School
Waggs Road, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 4BT
1.24 miles
Astbury St Mary's CofE Primary School
School Lane, Astbury, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 4RG
1.41 miles
Daven Primary School
New Street, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 3AH
1.72 miles
Buglawton Primary School
Buxton Old Road, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 2EL
2.05 miles
Havannah Primary School
Malhamdale Road, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 2DF
2.1 miles
Mossley CofE Primary School
Boundary Lane, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 3JA
2.74 miles
Smallwood CofE Primary School
School Lane, Sandbach, CW11 2UR
2.9 miles
Marton and District CofE Aided Primary School
School Lane, Marton, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 9HD
3.11 miles
Brereton CofE Primary School
School Lane, Brereton Green, Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 1RN
3.74 miles
Scholar Green Primary School
Congleton Road, Scholar Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST7 3HF
4.19 miles
Rode Heath Primary School
Heath Avenue, Rode Heath, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST7 3RY
4.29 miles
Woodcocks' Well CofE Primary School
Church Street, Mow Cop, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST7 3NQ
4.34 miles
St John's CofE Academy
Heath Road, Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 2LE
4.38 miles
Castle Primary School
Mow Cop Road, Mow Cop, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST7 4NE
4.43 miles
Wonder Star School
Young People's Community Centre, Chapel Lane, Rode Heath, Stoke-on-Trent, ST7 3SD
4.49 miles
Woodhouse Academy
Woodhouse Lane, Biddulph, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST8 7DR
4.52 miles
Kingsfield First School
Gunn Street, Biddulph, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST8 6AY
4.74 miles
Terra Nova School
Jodrell Bank, Crewe, CW4 8BT
4.78 miles
Name Distance
Congleton High School
Box Lane, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 4NS
0.32 miles
Aidenswood School
48 Parson Street, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 4ED
1.03 miles
Esland Daven School
Unit 2 Dane Valley Mill, Havannah Street, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 2AH
1.77 miles
Eaton Bank Academy
Jackson Road, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 1NT
1.78 miles
Opal Education
Unit 12, Holland Business Park, Riverdane Road, Congleton, CW12 1PN
1.81 miles
Cheshire Hall School
Congleton Road, Cheshire, Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 4TF
3.83 miles
Church Lawton School
Cherry Tree Avenue, Church Lawton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST7 3EL
4.83 miles
Roaches School
Tunstall Road, Knypersley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST8 7AB
4.97 miles

All schools in Congleton · Cheshire East local authority: places and applications

Black Firs Primary School is part of The Learning Partnership Academies Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

How many pupils does Black Firs Primary School have?

Black Firs Primary School has 372 pupils on roll.

What age range does Black Firs Primary School cover?

Black Firs Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Black Firs Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Black Firs Primary School?

Black Firs Primary School is at Longdown Road, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 4QJ.

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