Primary schools are responsible for imparting essential academic skills on their pupils that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
That’s why choosing the right one for your child and family is so important. But with each school having its own pros and cons, it’s often no easy task.
The government’s latest preliminary performance figures for state-funded primary schools were released last month, shortly after it published its delayed performance figures for secondary schools. From this data, we’ve been able to compare how primary schools across the City of Lancaster district did in the most recent school year, and create a league table of its top performers.
The key figure it’s based on is the proportion of each school’s pupils who completed Year 6 in the 2023/24 academic year, who met the government’s expected standards in three key areas: reading, writing and maths. We’ve included only schools which surpassed both the Lancashire county and the national average; giving both smaller community schools in surrounding villages, and larger schools in centres like the city and Morecambe the chance to shine.
Each school included also had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before this measure was recently dropped, or, if they’ve been inspected more recently, had at least ‘good’ grades across the board. This means that the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management and student safeguarding were all found to meet or exceed government standards last time the school was inspected.
Here were the 15 Lancaster area schools that topped the list:
1. Dolphinholme Church of England Primary School
This is an Anglican primary school in the village of Dolphinholme, right on the City of Lancaster’s southern boundary. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted, and has about 86 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, 93% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 60% locally and 61% nationally. | Google
2. Wray with Botton Endowed Primary School
This primary school is in the village of Wray, towards the district’s east. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted, and has about 56 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, 89% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 60% locally and 61% nationally. | Google
3. Heysham St Peter's Church of England Primary School
St Peter’s is an Anglican primary school in Heysham. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted, and has about 241 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, 85% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 60% locally and 61% nationally. | Google
4. Nether Kellet Community Primary School
Another smaller community school in the City of Lancaster area, this one is in Nether Kellet, south of Carnforth. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ overall by Ofsted, and has about 110 pupils. In the 2023/24 school year, 83% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 60% locally and 61% nationally. | Google