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Primary · BH7 · Bournemouth

St James' Church of England Primary Academy

Pokesdown Hill, Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, BH7 6DW

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DIOCESE OF CHICHESTER ACADEMY TRUST is the academy trust. Admissions rules still sit with the school and your local council.

OfstedNo overall grade

At a glance

Key published figures for this school.

OfstedNo overall grade
Attendance (2024/25)95%
Attainment (2024/25)68% met expected standard (KS2)
Roll vs capacityClose to published capacity
Pupils404

Ofsted inspection

Latest outcome

No overall grade

New inspection format: no single overall grade.

Monitoring visit confirmed the previous Good overall grade. See the full report for latest area judgements.

Report published 19 Mar 2023.

Inspection history

  • Latest ungradedSchool remains Good
  • Previous gradedRequires improvement

This page shows previous graded and latest ungraded outcomes when Ofsted publishes them in the national file. Full history stays on the Ofsted report.

View on Ofsted

School figures

Coloured bars compare this school with the average for other schools in BH7. Where we have them, council (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) and England figures appear under FSM, SEN and attendance. FSM, SEN and EAL are context, not quality scores. For attendance, higher is usually better.

Pupils on roll
404
Free school meals
16.6%
12.8% below district average (29.4%)

Also: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 19.9% · England 24.7%

SEN
24.8%
12.3% below district average (37.1%)

Also: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 17.1% · England 18.2%

EAL
29.7%
8.3% above district average (21.4%)
Attendance
95% Autumn and spring 2024/25
4% above district average (91%)

Also: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 95.1% · England 94.8%

Each metric uses its own colour so you can tell the rows apart. The lighter bar is the BH7 average; the darker bar is this school.

Compared with England

Persistent absence is 2024/25. Key Stage 2 is 2024/25: expected standard combined, greater depth, then reading, writing and maths. England is the state-funded average. Lower persistent absence is better.

Persistent absence2024/25

12.2%

1.1% below England (13.3%)

KS2 expected standard2024/25

68%

6% above England (62%)

KS2 greater depth2024/25

17%

9% above England (8%)

KS2 reading2024/25

81%

6% above England (75%)

KS2 writing2024/25

81%

9% above England (72%)

KS2 maths2024/25

80%

6% above England (74%)

Trends

Attendance

Autumn and spring 2024/25 from DfE pupil absence data (where published for this URN). The headline above uses the same period.

  • 97.3%
    2020/21
  • 93%
    2021/22
  • 93.4%
    2022/23
  • 93.9%
    2023/24
  • 95%
    2024/25

Key Stage 2

Share meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined.

  • 67%
    2022/23
  • 68%
    2023/24
  • 68%
    2024/25

Admissions

Applications and offers (September 2026 entry)

For September 2026 entry, 32 families put this school first. All of them were offered a place here.

Named as first preference
32
First-preference offers
32
First preferences offered a place
100%
Total offers
46
Named on any preference
191

This is historic demand from one admissions round. It is not a guarantee of a place, and it does not show a catchment area. Admission rules and priorities differ by school.

SourceDfE applications and offers, September 2026 entryPublished 18th of June 2026.

How full the building is

Roll versus published capacity
Close to published capacity
Published capacity (GIAS)
420
Pupils on roll
404

Pupils on roll compared with the capacity published in GIAS. This is about building size, not applications or offers, and it is not a guarantee of a place.

Applications and offers come from DfE. Last distance offered and catchment areas are not published nationally. Your council admissions booklet has those details.

Check your council admissions booklet via the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole page.

SEN support

SEN %
24.8%

A higher SEN percentage can mean experience with support needs, or more demand on staff. Ask the SENCO what is available day to day.

Schools near St James' Church of England Primary Academy

Distances are in a straight line from this school. They are not catchment areas.

Other nearby schools

All schools in BH7 · Schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Sources and freshness

  • School year for most DfE figures: 2024/25.
  • Pipeline last checked: Oct 2026.
  • Council and England attendance / FSM tables: 2024/25.
  • School figures from DfE / GIAS / Ofsted where published. District averages use other schools in this postcode district. Council and England figures use DfE local authority and national tables for the matching phase.
  • We do not publish school photos. The banner shows initials from the school name.
  • Methodology · Data updates