School Chooser

Barlborough Primary School

Primary · ages 4-11MixedCouncil191 pupilsChesterfieldDerbyshire
School Chooser Score
59
In line with
similar schools
Likely range 34 to 80
Out of 100. Better than 71% of the 50 schools most like it. Much the same over the last five years.
OfstedNo overall gradeLast Ofsted inspection, June 2025
Reached the expected level at 1168%England 63%
Attendance95.5%England 94.8%
Pupils from low-income families23%A bit fewer than most schools
Places19 spare191 pupils, 210 places
Pupils per teacher22.0School workforce census

Barlborough Primary School is a council school in Chesterfield for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It has 191 pupils and room for 210. About 22 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, a bit fewer than at most schools. We give it 59 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 71% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.

High Street, Barlborough, Chesterfield, S43 4ET01246 810381barlborough.derbyshire.sch.ukMr James Thompson headteacherAll details

What Ofsted found

Ofsted's last full inspection was on 24 June 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.

Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.

TeachingOfsted calls this “quality of education”
Requires improvement
BehaviourOfsted calls this “behaviour and attitudes”
Good
WellbeingOfsted calls this “personal development”
Good
LeadershipOfsted calls this “leadership and management”
Good
Early years
Good
Safeguarding
Effective
Yes
Earlier inspections (1)
DateTypeOutcome
25 September 2019UngradedSchool remains Good

Results

Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025

28 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England.

Reached the expected level at 1168%
England 63%
Official name: Expected standard in reading, writing and maths
Working above the expected level11%
England 8%
Official name: Higher standard in reading, writing and maths
Reading score107.0
England 105.6
Official name: Reading average scaled score
Maths score104.0
England 104.6
Official name: Maths average scaled score
Trend
Reached the expected level at 11
2017 to 2025
2017: 60%60%20172018: 73%73%20182019: 82%82%20192023: 70%70%20232024: 66%66%20242025: 68%68%2025
Since 2017: +8%Steady overall
All Year 6 measures, year by year
Measure202520242023201920182017DerbyshireEngland
Pupils tested282930333745
Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths68%66%70%82%73%60%60%63%
Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths11%14%13%24%14%11%8%8%
Reading scoreReading average scaled score107.0107.0106.0107.0107.0103.0105.2105.6
Maths scoreMaths average scaled score104.0107.0104.0108.0105.0105.0104.2104.6
Grammar and spelling scoreGPS average scaled score107.0106.0107.0110.0108.0105.0104.6105.2
Expected level: readingReading expected standard75%79%87%94%84%64%
Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard79%90%80%94%84%73%
Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed)71%76%83%88%84%78%
Reading progressReading progress score+1.9-1.2+1.0-1.9
Maths progressMaths progress score+0.6-0.4-0.2+0.6
Expected level: low-income pupilsExpected standard, disadvantaged14%
Expected level: other pupilsExpected standard, non-disadvantaged86%

There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.

Does every child do well here?

A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. None of the gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.

At the end of primary school, 2025

Reached the expected level at 11Low-income pupils vs other pupils
14%86%
Gap 72 ptsEngland 21 pts
Reached the expected level at 11Boys vs girls
65%73%
Gap 8 ptsEngland 5 pts
Reached the higher level at 11Low-income pupils vs all pupils
0%11%
Gap 11 ptsEngland 5 pts
First groupSecond groupEngland, each group

Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.

Getting a place

Admissions policy not published.

A few spare places192 pupils for 210 places, 2024/25
91% full

About 18 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have fallen by 4% since 2021/22, so places are getting easier to find.

Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Derbyshire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.

Who goes here

Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.

Pupils on roll191Census January 2026
Places21091% full
Pupils from low-income families23%23% have had free school meals at some point in the last six years
Pupils learning English13%First language is not English
Pupils getting extra support11%21 pupils with SEN support
Pupils with an EHC plan4%8 pupils with a plan
Average class size26.03 classes, January 2026; England 25.4
Classes with more than 30 pupils0%Infant classes are capped at 30 by law; England 10%
Pupils with extra funding (pupil premium)18%£52,700 extra funding in 2026/27; England 24%
Boys and girls96 / 95
White British pupils86%

Infant classes (Reception to Year 2) average 24.0 pupils (England 25.5); junior classes (Years 3 to 6) average 30.0 (England 27.3).

The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (14), Moderate learning difficulty (5), emotional and mental health (3), Physical disability (2), Specific learning difficulty (2), Autistic spectrum disorder (1).

How the mix of pupils has changed
Census202620252024202320222021
Pupils on roll191190199203202201
Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals23%21%20%20%17%15%
Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language13%4%4%3%2%2%
Pupils getting extra supportSEN support14%12%13%12%13%
Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans4%2%2%2%1%

Attendance and behaviour

In 2024/25 pupils were in school 95.5% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.

Attendance95.5%
England 94.8%
Official name: 100 minus overall absence
Pupils missing a lot of school5.9%
England 12.8%
Official name: Persistent absence
Suspensions per 100 pupils11.12024/25, no permanent exclusions
Missed without permission0.9%of school time, 2024/25
Attendance year by year
Measure2024/252023/242022/232021/222020/212018/19England
Sessions missedOverall absence4.5%4.8%4.3%5.9%4.2%3.0%5.2%
Missed with permissionAuthorised absence3.6%3.7%3.3%5.1%3.6%2.3%
Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence0.9%1.1%0.9%0.8%0.7%0.7%
Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence5.9%9.5%6.9%12.0%12.4%2.2%12.8%
SuspensionsSuspension rate11.13.06.43.52.0
Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions00000

Staff and money

From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.

Teachers8.7full-time equivalent, 12 people
Pupils per teacher22.0Pupils for every full-time teacher
Fully qualified teachers100%hold qualified teacher status
Teaching assistants6.3full-time equivalent
Average teacher pay£52,650
Teachers who left in the year12%2024/25, for any reason including retirement
Vacancies0
Sick days per teacher0.52024/25

Money

From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.

Spend per pupil£6,592England £7,738. Total £1.3m
Income per pupil£6,735England £7,697. Total £1.3m
Spent on teachers per pupil£2,908England £3,480
Money in reserve6%Not much put by: £71k, £375 per pupil. England 6%
Money in against money out+£27kit took in more than it spent this year
Where the money goes£6,592spent per pupil

Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.

The area around the school

Crimes within 500 m6712 months to June 2026, mostly violence and sexual offences
Local crime rate75 per 1,000 people18% lower than the England average
Typical house price£185,000Bolsover
Nearest bus stop70 mWar Memorial, 9 stops within 500 m

Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.

Nearby schools

The closest primary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored
SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Immaculate Conception Catholic PrimaryAcademy1.5 miles213Good 202376Compare
Clowne Infant and Nursery SchoolCouncil1.6 miles318Good 202446Compare
Clowne Junior SchoolCouncil1.7 miles326Good 202175Compare
Renishaw Primary SchoolCouncil1.9 miles187Report card 20269Compare
Norbriggs Primary SchoolCouncil2.2 miles182Good 202443Compare
Harthill Primary SchoolAcademy2.2 miles149No overall grade 202441Compare
Woodthorpe CofE Primary SchoolAcademy2.3 miles140Good 202350Compare
St Giles CofE Primary SchoolAcademy2.5 miles310Report card 202618Compare

Compared with schools like it

Our score compares Barlborough Primary School with the 48 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 48 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.

Beats71%of schools with a similar mix of pupils
In the upper half of its group. Its score of 59 is 21 points above the typical school in the group.
0Lowest of the group 1 · middle 39 · highest 97100

Nearby schools with a similar mix of pupils that score higher

Of those 48 schools, these are within 25 km and score at least five points more than Barlborough Primary School, nearest first. A school with the same kind of pupils and a higher score is the fairest sign that it gets more out of them.

SchoolTypeDistancePupilsOfstedScore
Northfield Junior SchoolCouncil7.0 miles165Good 202476Compare

How the score was worked out

The score is out of 100. A 59 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 59% of primary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 34 to 80. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.

What we looked atHow much it countsAgainst schools like itEffect on the scoreBased on
Results over three years25%in line
+0.03
2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 28 pupils
Ofsted inspection20%below
-0.15
Ofsted grade, 1.2 years old
Progress pupils make20%above
+0.08
DfE progress measure; 28 pupils
Direction of travel over five years10%in line
+0.01
results and attendance falling year on year
Attendance and behaviour10%above
+0.07
2024/25; 171 pupils
Results, allowing for the mix of pupils10%above
+0.06
Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 28 pupils
What parents say0%no data

Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.

Questions parents ask

Is Barlborough Primary School a good school?

It is about average. Barlborough Primary School scores 59 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 71% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 34 to 80, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.

What is Barlborough Primary School's Ofsted rating?

Ofsted rated Barlborough Primary School not judged at its last full inspection on 24 June 2025.

How good are Barlborough Primary School's SATs results?

In summer 2025, 68% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 11% went further and reached the higher level.

How many pupils does Barlborough Primary School have?

191 pupils aged 4 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 210 places, so it is 91% full.

Is Barlborough Primary School oversubscribed?

Probably not. 18 places were empty in 2024/25 (9% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.

What is attendance like at Barlborough Primary School?

Pupils were in school 95.5% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 6% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.

How big are the classes at Barlborough Primary School?

The average class had 26.0 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 25.4. No class had more than 30 pupils.

These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.

Contact and details

Address
High Street, Barlborough, Chesterfield, S43 4ET
Telephone
01246 810381
Website
barlborough.derbyshire.sch.uk
Headteacher
Mr James Thompson
Type of school
Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
Phase
Primary school, ages 4-11
Gender
Mixed
Local authority
Derbyshire
Ward
Barlborough
Constituency
Bolsover
Setting
Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
112505 · LAESTAB 8302022 · UKPRN 10079793

Where these figures come from