Darwen Aldridge Community Academy

GCSE results 2024/25

On Attainment 8 this school is in the bottom 10% of state-funded secondaries in England.

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

Progress 8 2023/24

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

C-

Average points per entry

25

England average 32.3

A level students

28

Pupils

Pupils on roll

1036

Places

1600

How full

65% full — 1036 of 1600 places taken, so places are likely to be available

Girls / boys

468 / 568

Overall absence

11%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent

36%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years

37%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language

17%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan

1%

England 3.5%

On SEN support

13%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training

87%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education

80%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship

3%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form

19%

No sustained destination

11%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort

210

After sixth form

Went to university

40%

England 50%

In education, work or training

79%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship

10%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort

67

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went on to a degree

44%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort

57

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 Blackburn with Darwen 016D, 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

25%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications

26%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home

46%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing

18%

England 17%

Households with no car

39%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive

42%

England 39.9%

School details

Type

Academy sponsor led

Phase

Secondary

Ages

Ages 11–19

Gender

Mixed

Admissions

Non-selective

Religious character

None

Sixth form

Yes

Nursery

No

Boarding

Day school

Trust

ALDRIDGE EDUCATION

Headteacher

Principal: Allan Glover

Local authority

Blackburn with Darwen

Ward

Darwen East

Constituency

Rossendale and Darwen

URN

135580

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

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.