Casterton Primary Academy

Casterton Primary Academy has achieved a 'Good' overall effectiveness rating in its first inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The school has established a positive learning environment where pupils enjoy attending and engage well with their education. Strong relationships between leaders, parents, and students contribute to a supportive community that fosters both academic and personal growth. The curriculum is designed to be aspirational, particularly for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), ensuring pupils achieve well across subjects.

Strengths

• Strong, positive relationships between leaders and parents.
• High expectations set by teachers for all pupils, including those with SEND.
• Effective phonics program, resulting in early reading success.
• Curriculum designed to link learning to the world of work.
• Pupils demonstrate good behaviour and respect towards each other.
• Robust arrangements for safeguarding.
• Focus on developing pupils' responsibilities through various roles.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent implementation of the curriculum across some subjects.
• Assessment methods not fully coherent, leading to unclear knowledge gaps in some areas.

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 Casterton Primary Academy attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.4% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Casterton Primary Academy 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 Casterton Primary Academy had 25.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.2% 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, 11.3% of pupils at Casterton Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.8% 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 2024–25 Casterton Primary Academy received £7,607 and spent £7,376 for each of its 289 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £76,000 (£264 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 Burnley · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

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

• Pendle Primary Academy Nelson
• Castercliff Primary School Nelson
• Colne Primet Academy Colne
• West Craven High School Barnoldswick

What is Casterton Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Casterton Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in November 2022.

When was Casterton Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Casterton Primary Academy was last inspected in November 2022.

How many pupils does Casterton Primary Academy have?

Casterton Primary Academy has 291 pupils on roll.

What age range does Casterton Primary Academy cover?

Casterton Primary Academy for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are Casterton Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 72% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Casterton Primary Academy?

Casterton Primary Academy is at Casterton Primary Academy, Thames Avenue, Burnley, BB10 2PZ.