Secondary school in Blackburn, Blackburn with Darwen
Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy
North Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 1PY
Ofsted
Graded Requires improvement at its last graded inspection, on 16 May 2023.
Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 3 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 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
No Progress 8 score published for this school.
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
- 770
- Places
- 821
- How full
- 94% full — 770 of 821 places taken
- Girls / boys
- 383 / 387
- Overall absence
- 14%
- Persistently absent
- 41%
secondary schools average 8.6%
secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions
- Free school meals, last 6 years
- 48%
- English as an additional language
- 34%
- With an EHC plan
- 2%
- On SEN support
- 22%
England 25.7%
England 18.7%
England 3.5%
England 15%
The neighbourhood around the school
Census 2021 figures for Blackburn with Darwen 008F, 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
- 17%
- Adults with no qualifications
- 30%
- Households owning their home
- 42%
- Households in social housing
- 34%
- Households with no car
- 34%
- Adults economically inactive
- 48%
England 33.8%
England 18.3%
England 62.7%
England 17%
England 21.9%
England 39.9%
School details
- Type
- Academy sponsor led
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- Ages 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions
- Non-selective
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No
- Boarding
- Day school
- Trust
- ROMERO CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher: Michael Wright
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Ward
- Blackburn South East
- Constituency
- Blackburn
- URN
- 150308
The unique reference number used in all official school data.
Nearest secondary schools
| School | Ofsted | Attainment 8 | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Islah Girls' High SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 0.6 mi |
| Blackburn Central High SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2022 | 41 | 0.7 mi |
| Jamiatul-Ilm Wal-Huda UK SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 1 mi |
| Rawdhatul Ilm Wal HudaOther independent school | No grade | — | 1 mi |
| Markazul UloomOther independent school | No grade | — | 1.1 mi |
| Noorul UloomOther independent school | No grade | — | 1.1 mi |
| Tauheedul Islam Boys' High SchoolFree schools | Outstanding 2024 | 62.5 | 1.5 mi |
| Islamiyah SchoolOther independent school | No grade | — | 1.6 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beccles High SchoolFree schools | Requires improvement 2024 | 27.6 |
| Heartlands High SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 45.4 |
| Lyng Hall SchoolAcademy converter | No grade | 32.6 |
| Netherhall SchoolCommunity school | No grade | 39.7 |
| The Hathershaw CollegeAcademy converter | No grade | 39.3 |
| The Winstanley SchoolAcademy converter | Good 2023 | 29.9 |
| The Laurel AcademyAcademy sponsor led | Good 2023 | 50.2 |
| Birches Head AcademyAcademy converter | Inadequate 2023 | 31.3 |
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.
- 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.