Secondary
Unity College
Townley Holmes, Burnley, BB11 3DF
Key facts
- Phase
- Secondary
- Type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Intake
- Mixed
- Pupils
- 1402 of 1480 places
- Pupils per teacher
- 14.6
- Local authority
- Lancashire
Staffing23/24
- Teachers (FTE)
- 97.9
- All staff (FTE)
- 129.6
- Pupils per adult
- 11.1
- Pupils
- 1,434
Staff are counted as full-time equivalents in the November school workforce census, so the pupil figure here is that census’s own and will differ a little from the roll above, which is counted in January.
Ofsted
Last inspected February 2024
Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudesRequires improvement
- Leadership and governanceRequires improvement
- Personal developmentRequires improvement
- Quality of educationRequires improvement
Inspected under the previous framework, which used its own four-point scale. Ofsted now publishes a report card grading several areas separately, so these grades are not directly comparable with a recent inspection’s.
SafeguardingMet
Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)Earlier inspections1
November 2018
Previous framework
Good
- Leadership and governanceGood
GCSE results
34%
2 points above the Burnley average (32% across 5 schools)
40.3
0.9 above the Burnley average (39.4 across 5 schools)
4th of 5 by our score, among the secondary schools in Burnley we can score - 11 in total, the rest without enough published data. Local and same-phase on purpose: a national table mostly measures who attends.
All published measures2024/2025
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 40.3 |
| EBacc average point score | 3.43 |
| Entered the EBacc | 27% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 54% |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 34% |
From the Department for Education. Measures are published per year and suppressed where a cohort is too small, so some schools show fewer. There are no results for 2019/20 or 2020/21, when exams and assessments were cancelled.
Results over time4 years
Each measure on its own scale, over every year we hold.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 21/22 | 33% |
| 22/23 | 29% |
| 23/24 | 34% |
| 24/25 | 34% |
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 21/22 | -0.40 |
| 22/23 | -0.30 |
| 23/24 | -0.21 |
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 21/22 | 41.6 |
| 22/23 | 39.6 |
| 23/24 | 39.8 |
| 24/25 | 40.3 |
Townley Holmes, Burnley, BB11 3DF
Admissions
How to apply (opens in a new tab)
You apply through your council, not the school - even for academies and free schools. Applications close on 31 October, the year before starting.
Lancashire admissions (opens in a new tab)
The council publishes the oversubscription criteria and last year’s offer distances, which is the closest thing to knowing your chances.
If you are refused a place (opens in a new tab)
You can appeal, and you can join a waiting list at the same time. Accept whatever offer you get first - declining it can leave you with no place at all.
This school’s own admissions (opens in a new tab)
Schools that set their own criteria - faith schools, grammars, academies - publish them on their own site.
Contact
- Head Teacher
- Jane Richardson
- Address
- Townley Holmes, Burnley, BB11 3DF
- Telephone
- 01282683010