SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Accrington, Lancashire

Accrington Academy

Queens Road West, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 4FF

Christian
School website 01254304300

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 4 March 2025.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

39.4 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

39% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

57% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

3.7 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

52% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom quarter of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the lower half.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.62confidence interval -0.83 to -0.42

Taking that range into account, pupils made less progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well below average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
953
Places
1150
How full
83% full — 953 of 1150 places taken
Girls / boys
492 / 461
Overall absence
10%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
30%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
41%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
23%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
2%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
12%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
89%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
79%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
7%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
21%
No sustained destination
9%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
183

After sixth form

Went to university
49%

England 50%

In education, work or training
84%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
70

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

2% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
64%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
47

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Hyndburn 004E, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
23%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
27%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
60%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
23%

England 17%

Households with no car
28%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
44%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy sponsor led
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–16
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
Christian
Sixth form
No
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
UNITED LEARNING TRUST
Headteacher
Principal: Melanie Haselden
Local authority
Lancashire
Ward
Milnshaw
Constituency
Hyndburn
URN
135649

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High SchoolAcademy converter No grade 50.7 0.2 mi
The Alternative SchoolOther independent school No grade 0.7 mi
Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, HyndburnVoluntary aided school No grade 42.7 1.2 mi
RhyddingsAcademy converter No grade 36.5 1.3 mi
The HollinsAcademy converter No grade 40.7 1.8 mi
The Hyndburn AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 37.4 2 mi
Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary AcademyAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2023 37.2 3.6 mi
Rawdhatul Ilm Wal HudaOther independent school No grade 3.7 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Harlington SchoolFoundation school No grade 42.5
Sirius Academy WestAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 38.7
The Eastbourne AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 37.7
Dixons Pennine AcademyAcademy converter Good 2024 35.8
Co-op Academy FailsworthAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 43
Farringdon Community AcademyAcademy converter Requires improvement 2023 44.6
Churchill Community CollegeFoundation school Inadequate 2024 40.4
The King's AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 37.9

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.