Selective secondary school in Rossendale, Lancashire
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School
Glen Road, Rossendale, BB4 7BJ
Ofsted
Graded Inadequate at its last graded inspection, on 14 June 2022.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 4 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.
GCSE results 2024/25
Attainment 8 score
The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.
Grade 5+ in English & maths
Grade 4+ in English & maths
EBacc average point score
Entered the EBacc
On Attainment 8 this school is in the top 5% of state-funded secondaries in England.
Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the top quarter.
Progress 8 2023/24
Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as above 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.
A levels 2024/25
- Average grade per entry
- B
- Average points per entry
- 39.5
- A level students
- 94
England average 32.3
Pupils
- Pupils on roll
- 1087
- Places
- 1260
- How full
- 86% full — 1087 of 1260 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 530 / 557
- Overall absence
- 5%
- Persistently absent
- 7%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 8%
- English as an additional language
- 7%
- With an EHC plan
- 1%
- On SEN support
- 8%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Rossendale 010E, 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
- 27%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 21%
- Households owning their home
- 60%
- Households in social housing
- 18%
- Households with no car
- 17%
- Adults economically inactive
- 38%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Selective (entrance test)
- Religious character
- None
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- STAR ACADEMIES
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: James Johnstone
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Ward
- Hareholme & Waterfoot
- Constituency
- Rossendale and Darwen
- URN
- 150261
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Valley Leadership AcademyAcademy sponsor led | No grade | 32.6 | 0.4 mi |
| Alder Grange SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 37 | 1.8 mi |
| All Saints' Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary AcademyAcademy converter | Requires improvement 2024 | 35.3 | 2.4 mi |
| Haslingden High School and Sixth FormCommunity school | Good 2022 | 44.2 | 3 mi |
| Whitworth Community High SchoolCommunity school | Good 2023 | 50.3 | 3.6 mi |
| Darul Uloom Al Arabiya Al IslamiyaOther independent school | No grade | — | 5.2 mi |
| Woodhey High SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 47.3 | 5.3 mi |
| The HollinsAcademy converter | No grade | 40.7 | 5.3 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.
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Ripon Grammar SchoolCommunity school | Good 2023 | 70.9 |
| Royal Latin SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 73.5 |
| Lancaster Royal Grammar SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2021 | 74.1 |
| St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar SchoolVoluntary aided school | No grade | 83.6 |
| Ermysted's Grammar SchoolVoluntary aided school | Good 2022 | 67.3 |
| Chelmsford County High School for GirlsAcademy converter | Outstanding 2024 | 80.7 |
| Nonsuch High School for GirlsAcademy converter | No grade | 80.5 |
| Cranbrook SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 66.9 |
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.