SF School Facts UK

All-through school in Blackpool

Unity Academy Blackpool

Warbreck Hill Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY2 0TS

School website 01253478129

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 10 December 2024.

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

29.3 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

18% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

32% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

2.6 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

11% 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

-1.94confidence interval -2.21 to -1.67

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

Pupils

Pupils on roll
877
Places
1020
How full
86% full — 877 of 1020 places taken
Girls / boys
440 / 437
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
62%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
12%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
3%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
25%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
75%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
66%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
0%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
1%
No sustained destination
18%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
114

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 Blackpool 005A, 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
22%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
22%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
75%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
2%

England 17%

Households with no car
21%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
40%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy sponsor led
Phase
All-through
Ages
Ages 2–16
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
No
Nursery
Yes
Boarding
Day school
Trust
FYLDE COAST ACADEMY TRUST
Headteacher
Principal: John Connolly
Local authority
Blackpool
Ward
Greenlands
Constituency
Blackpool North and Fleetwood
URN
139675

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest all-through schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Lancashire Alternative ProvisionOther independent school No grade 0.6 mi
St Mary's Catholic AcademyAcademy converter Good 2022 41.5 1 mi
Blackpool Aspire AcademyAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2024 36.7 1 mi
Tower Learning Centre Independent SchoolOther independent school No grade 1.2 mi
Montgomery AcademyAcademy converter Good 2024 40 1.4 mi
Baines SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 45.8 1.8 mi
BFC SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.1 mi
Hodgson AcademyAcademy converter Good 2022 49.5 2.5 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded all-through 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
Bluecoat Beechdale AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2022 34
Ark Boulton AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2024 44.2
Durham AcademyAcademy converter No grade 37.4
E-ACT Heartlands AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 50.3
Ark Globe AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2021 48.4
Outwood Academy RiversideFree schools Good 2023 43.2
Ark Walworth AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 43.3
City AcademyFree schools No grade 36.4

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.