SF School Facts UK

Special school in Burnley, Lancashire

Ridgewood Community High School

Eastern Avenue, Burnley, Lancashire, BB10 2AT

Ofsted Good · 2023 Sixth form
School website 01282953653

Ofsted

Goodas at 16 November 2023

Remained Good at its last ungraded inspection, on 16 November 2023.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 2 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

Exam results

Special schools serve pupils whose needs the standard measures were not designed to describe, so results are not shown or ranked here.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
192
Girls / boys
57 / 135
Overall absence
14%

England 5.8%

Persistently absent
32%

England 14.7% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
65%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
27%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
100%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
0%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
95%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
95%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
0%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
0%
No sustained destination
5%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
21

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. 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 Burnley 001E, 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
70%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
17%

England 17%

Households with no car
27%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
47%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Community special school
Phase
Special
Ages
Ages 11–19
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Ian Carden
Local authority
Lancashire
Ward
Lanehead
Constituency
Burnley
URN
135013

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest special schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Compass Community School LancashireOther independent special school No grade 0.7 mi
Silver Birch SchoolOther independent special school No grade 0.7 mi
Holly Grove SchoolCommunity special school Outstanding 2023 0.7 mi
The Rose SchoolCommunity special school No grade 2.3 mi
Broadfield Specialist SchoolCommunity special school Outstanding 2024 2.5 mi
Pendle Community High School & CollegeCommunity special school Outstanding 2024 3 mi
Grow Independent SchoolOther independent special school No grade 3 mi
Pendle View Primary SchoolCommunity special school Outstanding 2023 3.2 mi

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.