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B+

St James' Church of England Primary Academy

PrimaryAges 4–11AcademyChurch of England

Bournemouth, BH7 6DW · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority

Bournemouth’s School Grade A better than 87% of towns in England

Its letter
66%
of England’s primaries have lower KS2 results
Getting in
32/32
first choices offered a place, 2026 (England: 93%)
How full
404 pupils
96% of its 420 places
Free school meals
17%
17 in 100 pupils eligible · outlined square = England’s schools (25)
The gist

What stands out about St James' Church of England Primary Academy

  • Its own letter, B+: Key Stage 2 results better than 66% of England’s primary schools
  • 68% meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, 6 points above England’s schools
  • Ofsted: Good, January 2023 (shown, not graded)
  • Every family who put it first got a place for September 2026 (32 of 32)
  • Homes in its postcode sector (BH7 6) sold for a median £330,000; Bournemouth’s is £308,000

Results

DfE · Key Stage 2

Reading, writing and maths 68%

Met the expected standard, DfE’s 3-year average 2023–2025 · higher than 66% of England’s 14,979 graded primaries · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole avg 63%

0%20%40%60%80%100%England avg 61.6%St James' CofE Primary 68%

Each subject, 2025

Met the expected standard; the mark is England’s schools · average scaled score: reading 108, maths 106 (100 = the expected standard)

Reading81%
England’s schools 77%
Writing (teacher assessed)81%
England’s schools 73%
Maths80%
England’s schools 75%
Grammar, punctuation and spelling80%
England’s schools 74%

Disadvantaged pupils, 2025

Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths: the 11 disadvantaged pupils and the rest, beside England’s schools

Disadvantaged
18%England 48.5%
Not disadvantaged
79%England 69.4%
Reached the higher standard in all three17%
England’s schools 8% · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 11% · 2025

England’s figures are of its graded mainstream state schools, each school counted once; grammar schools are included, which is why the right-hand tail is long. Small cohorts are suppressed.

Getting in

How hard is it to get a place at St James' Church of England Primary Academy?

Every family who put it first got a place for September 2026.

32
families put it first for September 2026
46
places offered
100%
of first choices offered a place (England’s primaries: 93%)
First choices and places, by year of entry
20192020202120222023202420252026
Families who put it firstPlaces offered
Red figures: first choices not offered a place

Years when some first choices missed out: 2019 (15), 2020 (35), 2024 (3). The council runs the coordinated admissions; each school’s rules (siblings, distance, faith) decide who gets in. DfE doesn’t publish the furthest distance offered, so check the council’s admissions booklet for that. Diocese of Chichester Academy Trust sets the admissions rules. Apply through Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council’s coordinated admissions.

Demand for primary schools in Bournemouth, September 2026

Outline = places offered · green = families who put it first · striped = more first choices than places · the 10 most in demand

1.92 per place
52% got their first choice
1.31 per place
74% got their first choice
1.17 per place
84% got their first choice
1.15 per place
86% got their first choice
1.10 per place
83% got their first choice
1.03 per place
98% got their first choice
1.00 per place
100% got their first choice
1.00 per place
100% got their first choice
1.00 per place
100% got their first choice
St James' CofE Primary
0.70 per place
100% got their first choice

Bournemouth and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, side by side

2023–2025

All 52 graded primaries in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Schools with more pupils on free school meals usually score lower, so a school above the crowd for its free school meals is doing better than its intake predicts. Bournemouth’s schools are coloured by their letter.

30%41%52%63%74%85%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%Pupils eligible for free school meals →KS2 expected standard →St James' CofE Primary
ABCDElsewhere in Bournemouth, Christchurch and PooleSt James' CofE Primary
Show as a table
SchoolLetterFree school mealsKS2 expected standard
St. Walburga's Catholic Primary SchoolA+9%93%
Winton Primary SchoolA+14%89%
Mudeford Junior SchoolA20%82%
Avonwood Primary SchoolA9%81%
St Katharine's Church of England Primary SchoolA6%78%
Corpus Christi Catholic Primary SchoolA14%77%
Moordown St John's Church of England Primary SchoolA14%77%
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, ChristchurchA−32%75%
Ocean Academy PooleA−30%74%
Twynham Primary SchoolA−13%74%
Queen's Park AcademyA−14%72%
Canford Heath Junior SchoolA−22%72%
St Mark's Church of England Primary SchoolA−10%72%
Christchurch Junior SchoolA−16%72%
Muscliff Primary SchoolA−20%71%
Baden-Powell and St Peter's Church of England Junior SchoolB+12%70%
Stourfield Junior SchoolB+17%70%
St Peter's Catholic Comprehensive SchoolB+14%69%
The Epiphany SchoolB+4%69%
St James' Church of England Primary AcademyB+17%68%
Haymoor Junior SchoolB+27%68%
The Priory Church of England Primary SchoolB6%67%
St Michael's Church of England Primary SchoolB15%65%
Talbot Primary SchoolB23%65%
Elm AcademyB−36%64%
Pokesdown Community Primary SchoolB−17%64%
Bishop Aldhelm's Church of England Primary SchoolB−15%62%
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, PooleB−25%61%
St Mary's Catholic Primary School, PooleB−11%61%
Hill View Primary AcademyB−17%61%
Longfleet Church of England Primary SchoolB−15%61%
Hillbourne Primary SchoolB−42%61%
Jewell Academy BournemouthC+26%59%
Broadstone Middle SchoolC+19%58%
Hamworthy Park Junior SchoolC+29%58%
Heatherlands Primary SchoolC+29%58%
Burton Church of England Primary SchoolC16%57%
Highcliffe St Mark Primary SchoolC6%57%
King's Park AcademyC29%57%
Kingsleigh Primary SchoolC37%57%
Malmesbury Park Primary SchoolC22%56%
Bearwood Primary and Nursery SchoolC24%56%
Oakdale Junior SchoolC36%55%
Kinson AcademyC41%55%
Livingstone Road Junior SchoolC−33%51%
Manorside AcademyC−33%50%
Bayside AcademyC−52%48%
Somerford Primary SchoolD47%40%
Bethany Church of England Junior SchoolD46%40%
St Luke's Church of England Primary SchoolD30%40%
Heathlands Primary AcademyD−70%34%
Christ The King Catholic Primary SchoolD−18%32%

Who goes here

DfE school census, January 2025

404 pupils. SEN support is extra help in school for a special educational need; an EHC plan is the council’s legal plan for pupils who need more.

SEN support
19.1%England 15.3%
EHC plan
5.7%England 3.6%
English as an additional language
29.7%England 18.8%
Free school meals in the last 6 years
15.1%England 26.2%

Girls and boys

Girls 48%Boys 52%
Its letter

St James' Church of England Primary Academy’s letter

Its own results against England’s schools, not the town’s School Grade.

Primary: KS2 reading, writing and maths B+Better than 66% of 15,230 schools
How school letters are worked out

Each school’s measure is compared with every graded school in England of the same phase: for primaries, the share of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (DfE’s three-year average); for secondaries, Attainment 8 and the share with grade 5 or above in English and maths, each turned into a z-score against England’s schools and averaged. The letter comes from the share of those schools it beats, in the same bands as every grade on the site. The same method gives U.S. schools their letters, against their own state.

A+ 95+A 85–94A− 75–84B+ 65–74B 55–64B− 45–54C+ 35–44C 25–34C− 15–24D 5–14D− 0–4

Graded: England’s open mainstream state schools with published results (grammar schools included, which select by test). Not graded: special schools, alternative provision, nurseries, 16–19 colleges, UTCs and studio schools, Welsh schools. Ofsted plays no part.

Ofsted

Ofsted inspections

Shown, not graded: Ofsted is never part of a letter or the School Grade.

Ungraded inspection: School remains Good, January 2023.

The full reports on Ofsted ↗

Living nearby

Living near St James' Church of England Primary Academy

For families thinking of moving: what homes cost around the school, and the other schools close by.

Home prices in BH7 6, the school’s postcode sector

Bournemouth property prices →
£330,000
median sale, 294 sales in 36 months · Bournemouth £308,000

Median sale price each year, 2010 to 2025

£150K£200K£250K£300K£350K£400K2010201520202025BH7 6Bournemouth
BH7 6Bournemouth

By type, the 36 months to August 2026

Detached
£555K
Semi-detached
£350K
Terraced
£293K
Flat
£200K
BH7 6Bournemouth

Homes in BH7 6 sell for a little over Bournemouth’s typical price. HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales. Catchments aren’t published, so the postcode sector stands in for “around the school”.

Schools within 1.6 miles

13 state schools
0.5 mi1 mi1.5 miNAB+A−B−C+CDB+A−B+AB+St James' Church of England…
ABCDNo letterPrimarySecondary / all-through

Bournemouth, BH7 6DW

St James' Church of England Primary Academy: common questions

Is St James' Church of England Primary Academy a good school?

By its published results, above average: its Key Stage 2 results are better than 66% of England’s primary schools (its letter is B+), with 68% of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, against 62% for England’s schools. Ofsted: Good, January 2023.

How hard is it to get into St James' Church of England Primary Academy?

For September 2026, 32 families put St James' Church of England Primary Academy first and all of them were offered a place; 46 places were offered in all.

What is St James' Church of England Primary Academy’s Ofsted rating?

Its latest inspection outcome is Good (January 2023).

How much do houses cost near St James' Church of England Primary Academy?

Homes in its postcode sector, BH7 6, sold for a median £330,000 over the 36 months to August 2026 (294 sales).

Sources: DfE Get Information about Schools (16 October 2026), Key Stage 2 performance tables (2023–2025, three-year average) and Key Stage 4 (2025/26, provisional); Ofsted state-funded school inspections as at 30 September 2026. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Also: DfE Key Stage 4 performance, schools data (2023/24 and 2024/25 final, 2025/26 provisional) and Key Stage 2 performance tables 2024/25 by subject; DfE school census, January 2025; DfE school-level applications and offers, September 2019 to 2026 entry; HM Land Registry Price Paid by postcode sector, 2010 to August 2026.

A school’s letter is our own summary of its published results against England’s schools of the same phase; Bournemouth’s School Grade is a separate grade, built from the results of the schools in and around the town against other towns. Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.