Primary school in Rossendale, Lancashire
St James-the-Less Roman Catholic Primary School, Rawtenstall
Unity Way, Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire, BB4 8SU
Ofsted
Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 19 January 2023.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
Key stage 2 results 2024/25
Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Reached the higher standard
Average reading score
Average maths score
On the headline measure this school is in the top quarter of state-funded primaries in England.
Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is middle, which is where this one sits, it is in the top 10%.
There are no progress measures for primary schools any more. They were calculated from a key stage 1 baseline, and statutory key stage 1 tests ended in 2023, so nothing has been published since. That makes attainment the only official measure — and attainment tracks intake closely, which is why the comparison against similar schools above is the more useful of the two lines.
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 211
- Places
- 210
- How full
- Full — 211 pupils against 210 places
- Girls / boys
- 112 / 99
- Overall absence
- 4%
- Persistently absent
- 4%
primary schools average 5.2%
primary schools average 12.8% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 14%
- English as an additional language
- 1%
- With an EHC plan
- 2%
- On SEN support
- 8%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Rossendale 004A, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.
- Adults with a degree
- 29%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 23%
- Households owning their home
- 58%
- Households in social housing
- 16%
- Households with no car
- 25%
- Adults economically inactive
- 43%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Phase
- Primary
- Ages
- Ages 5–11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Jessica Bell-Shaw
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Ward
- Longholme
- Constituency
- Rossendale and Darwen
- URN
- 119665
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest primary schools
| School | Ofsted | Expected standard | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's CofE Primary School RawtenstallVoluntary controlled school | No grade | 50% | 0.1 mi |
| Rawtenstall St Paul's Church of England Primary SchoolVoluntary controlled school | Good 2023 | 44% | 0.4 mi |
| Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 32% | 0.8 mi |
| St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, HaslingdenVoluntary aided school | Outstanding 2024 | 71% | 1 mi |
| Haslingden Primary SchoolFoundation school | Good 2024 | 58% | 1.4 mi |
| Haslingden Broadway Primary SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 48% | 1.4 mi |
| St Peter's Roman Catholic Primary School, NewchurchVoluntary aided school | No grade | 74% | 1.5 mi |
| Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary SchoolVoluntary controlled school | No grade | 20% | 1.5 mi |
Schools with a similar intake
State-funded primary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.
| School | Ofsted | Expected standard |
|---|---|---|
| Bishop John Robinson Church of England Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2024 | 67% |
| Lauriston SchoolCommunity school | Good 2023 | 75% |
| John Betts Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2021 | 100% |
| St John's Walham Green Church of England Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Outstanding 2024 | 66% |
| Dalmain Primary SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 71% |
| Ivydale Primary SchoolCommunity school | Good 2024 | 68% |
| Burdett-Coutts and Townshend Foundation CofE Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2024 | 88% |
| St Clement Danes CofE Primary SchoolVoluntary aided school | No grade | 100% |
Where these figures come from
- School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
- Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25.
- Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
- Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
- Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.
All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.