SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Darwen, Blackburn with Darwen

Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio

Police Street, Darwen, Lancashire, BB3 1AF

Sixth form
School website 01254819567

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 20 January 2026.

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

34.7 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

28% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

49% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

2.5 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

0% England 40.8%

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 most disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the bottom quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.82confidence interval -1.17 to -0.48

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

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
37

England average 32.3

A level students
17

Pupils

Pupils on roll
275
Places
300
How full
92% full — 275 of 300 places taken
Girls / boys
173 / 102
Overall absence
18%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
56%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
47%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
2%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
6%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
30%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
88%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
87%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
0%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
46%
No sustained destination
10%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
52

After sixth form

Went to university
31%

England 50%

In education, work or training
56%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
0%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
32

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

6% 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
59%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
32

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 016C, 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
33%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
14%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
60%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
13%

England 17%

Households with no car
22%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
35%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Studio schools
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 13–19
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
ALDRIDGE EDUCATION
Headteacher
Headteacher: Julie Green
Local authority
Blackburn with Darwen
Ward
Darwen West
Constituency
Rossendale and Darwen
URN
139924

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Darwen Aldridge Community AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 36.5 0.4 mi
Darwen Vale High SchoolAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 43.1 1.3 mi
Markazul UloomOther independent school No grade 2.6 mi
Noorul UloomOther independent school No grade 2.6 mi
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, BlackburnVoluntary aided school No grade 47.4 2.8 mi
Blackburn Central High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 41 2.9 mi
Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary AcademyAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2023 37.2 3.2 mi
Tauheedul Islam Boys' High SchoolFree schools Outstanding 2024 62.5 3.3 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.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
St Peter's Catholic CollegeAcademy converter Good 2022 34.3
Mulberry School for GirlsAcademy converter Outstanding 2024 55.2
Manchester Enterprise Academy CentralFree schools Good 2022 46.1
Bradford AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 33.1
Oasis Academy OldhamAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 42.8
Stockland Green SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 40.3
Ormiston Bolingbroke AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 35.9
Holyhead SchoolAcademy converter No grade 43.2

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.