St James Church of England Primary School, Northampton

Ofsted's report card from its 20 January 2026 inspection grades St James Church of England Primary School on 7 areas: 1 strong standard and 6 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "The school's personal development offer is impressive."

Achievement - Expected standard. "Pupils achieve well."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders monitor pupils' attendance closely."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "School and trust leaders have developed an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum."

Early years - Expected standard. "Children get off to a positive start in the early years."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "The foundation of the school's culture is inclusion."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders, including those responsible for governance, have created an ethos and a culture rooted in care, ambition and respect."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "• Leaders should ensure that the teaching of the curriculum is consistently high quality so that pupils consistently have the most meaningful opportunities to move their learning on. • Leaders should ensure that their evaluation and oversight of school performance is as insightful as possible so as to maximise the improvements to pupils' outcomes".

In 2025, 86% of Year 6 pupils at St James Church of England Primary School reached the expected standard in reading and 78% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 77% and 75% in West Northamptonshire and 77% and 75% across England.

Results were similar in 2024 (79% in reading, 81% in maths).

For September 2026 entry, 60 families put St James Church of England Primary School as their first choice and 85 named it as one of their preferences, for 59 places offered. That is slightly more first choices than places. 1 family who put it first was not offered a place there.

The nearest other state primary schools to St James Church of England Primary School are Earl Spencer Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 67% reading, 60% maths); Lyncrest Primary School (0.5 miles, Good, 76% reading, 83% maths); Spring Lane Primary School (0.6 miles, Good, 72% reading, 78% maths); and Castle Academy (0.7 miles, Good, 78% reading, 93% maths).

St James Church of England Primary School's 2025 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

St James Church of England Primary School is one of 36 schools run by Peterborough Diocese Education Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's primary schools, 65% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2024/25.

66 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about St James Church of England Primary School (as of April 2026): 92% would recommend the school, 91% say their child is happy there and 74% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (92%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (74%).

58.7% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (25%), Black (23%) and Asian (17%).

In 2026, 91 pupils (20.4%) received SEN support and 29 (6.5%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.

St James Church of England Primary School has a resourced provision (10 places, 8 pupils on roll) and a SEN unit (10 places, 10 pupils on roll) for social, emotional and mental health needs.

The nearest railway station is Northampton Rail Station, about 830 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).

13 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Vicarage Road (adjacent), 40 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 739 crimes within a mile of the school, most often anti-social behaviour, violence and sexual offences and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in West Northamptonshire (90), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, St James Church of England Primary School issued 17 suspensions, 3.8 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The secondary schools closest to St James Church of England Primary School are Northampton International Academy (0.8 miles), The Duston School (1.7 miles) and Abbeyfield School (1.9 miles).