Balshaw's Church of England High School
Secondary · Voluntary controlled school · Mixed · Lancashire
Church Road, Leyland, PR25 3AH
74
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 02/02/2023
Application demand
76%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
95.0%
12.9% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
921
Capacity used
Over capacity100%
925 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
76%
1st preference success rate
164 of 215 families who put it first got an offer
183
Places offered
628
Total applications
3.4
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 215 | 164 | ● 76% |
| 2nd preference | 232 | 18 | ● 8% |
| 3rd preference | 179 | 1 | ● 1% |
| Later preferences | 2 | 0 | ● 0% |
| Total | 628 | 183 | 29% |
1st preference success by year
Lancashire lets families list 3 preferences. 1 applications came from outside the council area (0 offered). 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
- Voluntary controlled school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Steven Haycocks
- Address
- Church Road, Leyland, PR25 3AH
- Phone
- 01772421009
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Ward / constituency
- Buckshaw & Worden · South Ribble
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 119775
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 13% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 4% | — | — |
| SEN support | 4% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 1 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
921 pupils · 925 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
02 February 2023
Full graded inspection
Good overall effectivenessPersonal development Good Quality of education Good Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Good Leadership and management Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 948 pupils
Attendance
95.0%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
5.0%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
12.9%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
1.2%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
0.7%
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 | 52.1 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.18 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 58% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 80% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.82 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 52.3 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 57.4% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 78.7% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 55.3% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.83 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 188 | — |
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 | 188 | 18% | 60% | 82% | |
| English Language | 188 | 28% | 74% | 85% | |
| English Literature | 187 | 19% | 64% | 79% | |
| Combined Science | 154 | 12% | 55% | 73% | |
| History | 119 | 24% | 56% | 67% | |
| Business | 70 | 23% | 60% | 76% | |
| Geography | 70 | 21% | 69% | 77% | |
| Food Preparation & Nutrition | 62 | 21% | 55% | 74% | |
| Spanish | 59 | 31% | 90% | 95% | |
| Design & Technology | 49 | 0% | 24% | 45% | |
| French | 45 | 29% | 67% | 80% | |
| Art and Design | 43 | 14% | 65% | 91% |
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 Lancashire 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.