Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College
Secondary · Foundation school · Mixed · Cheshire West and Chester
Melbourne Road, Chester, CH1 5JH
53
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Requires improvement
Graded 28/11/2023
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
85.4%
43.2% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
651
Capacity used
Has space87%
750 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
118 of 118 families who put it first got an offer
118
Places offered
145
Total applications
1.2
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 118 | 118 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 13 | 0 | ● 0% |
| 3rd preference | 14 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 145 | 118 | 81% |
1st preference success by year
Cheshire West and Chester lets families list 3 preferences. Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Foundation school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Rachel Hudson
- Address
- Melbourne Road, Blacon, Chester, CH1 5JH
- Phone
- 01244371475
- Local authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Ward / constituency
- Blacon · Chester North and Neston
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 111396
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 49% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 7% | — | — |
| SEN support | 19% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: Blacon High School Trust
651 pupils · 750 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 26
12 May 2026
S5 Inspection · report card
Inclusion Needs attention Achievement Needs attention Safeguarding standards Met Curriculum and teaching Needs attention Attendance and behaviour Expected standard Leadership and governance Needs attention Early years Not applicable Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard Post-16 provision Not applicable - 23
28 November 2023
Full graded inspection
Requires improvement overall effectivenessPersonal development Good Quality of education Requires improvement Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Requires improvement
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 732 pupils
Attendance
85.4%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
14.6%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
43.2%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
8.3%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
6.7%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 37.2 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.63 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 24% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 47% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 2.97 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 33.2 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 17.3% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 36.8% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 8.3% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 2.59 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 133 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 131 | 6% | 33% | 47% | |
| English Language | 131 | 5% | 21% | 39% | |
| English Literature | 131 | 3% | 21% | 39% | |
| Combined Science | 110 | 3% | 12% | 29% | |
| Art and Design | 82 | 20% | 71% | 93% | |
| Geography | 66 | 6% | 27% | 36% | |
| History | 47 | 11% | 21% | 26% | |
| Spanish | 12 | 0% | 33% | 33% | |
| Media / Film / TV | 9 | 11% | 11% | 33% | |
| Religious Studies | 9 | 22% | 78% | 89% | |
| Biology | 8 | 0% | 88% | 100% | |
| Physics | 8 | 0% | 63% | 100% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Cheshire West and Chester council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.