Secondary
Darwen Vale High School
Blackburn Road, Darwen, BB3 0AL
Key facts
- Phase
- Secondary
- Type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Intake
- Mixed
- Pupils
- 1039 of 1200 places
- Pupils per teacher
- 18.9
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Trust
- ALDRIDGE EDUCATION
Staffing23/24
- Teachers (FTE)
- 57.1
- All staff (FTE)
- 86.7
- Pupils per adult
- 12.4
- Pupils
- 1,078
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 January 2024
Good
- Behaviour and attitudesGood
- Leadership and governanceGood
- Personal developmentGood
- Quality of educationGood
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
March 2020
Previous framework
Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudesRequires improvement
- Leadership and governanceRequires improvement
- Personal developmentRequires improvement
- Quality of educationRequires improvement
GCSE results
40%
43.1
1st of 3 by our score, among the secondary schools in Darwen we can score - see them all. Local and same-phase on purpose: a national table mostly measures who attends.
All published measures2024/2025
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 43.1 |
| EBacc average point score | 3.6 |
| Entered the EBacc | 11% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 40% |
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 | 41% |
| 22/23 | 41% |
| 23/24 | 43% |
| 24/25 | 40% |
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 21/22 | -0.21 |
| 22/23 | -0.15 |
| 23/24 | -0.29 |
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 21/22 | 44.2 |
| 22/23 | 43.9 |
| 23/24 | 42.5 |
| 24/25 | 43.1 |
Blackburn Road, Darwen, BB3 0AL
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.
Blackburn with Darwen 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
- Headteacher
- Jessica Giraud
- Address
- Blackburn Road, Darwen, BB3 0AL
- Telephone
- 01254223000