Pendle Vale College
Secondary · Community school · Mixed · Lancashire
Oxford Road, Nelson, BB9 8LF
59
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
83%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
91.8%
25.5% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,046
Capacity used
Over capacity100%
1,050 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
83%
1st preference success rate
187 of 226 families who put it first got an offer
203
Places offered
555
Total applications
2.7
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 226 | 187 | ● 83% |
| 2nd preference | 209 | 8 | ● 4% |
| 3rd preference | 120 | 8 | ● 7% |
| Total | 555 | 203 | 37% |
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
- Community school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Oliver Handley
- Address
- Oxford Road, Nelson, BB9 8LF
- Phone
- 01282682240
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Ward / constituency
- Bradley · Pendle and Clitheroe
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 134989
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 38% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 27% | — | — |
| SEN support | 11% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
1,046 pupils · 1,050 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 26
10 February 2026
S5 Inspection · report card
Inclusion Expected standard Achievement Expected standard Safeguarding standards Met Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Attendance and behaviour Expected standard Leadership and governance Expected standard Early years Not applicable Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard Post-16 provision Not applicable - 21
10 November 2021
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,078 pupils
Attendance
91.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
8.2%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
25.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.6%
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 | 41.5 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.07 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 32% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 58% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.71 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 42.5 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 32.2% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 54.1% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 48.8% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.74 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 205 | — |
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 | 204 | 10% | 42% | 60% | |
| English Language | 204 | 9% | 35% | 58% | |
| English Literature | 203 | 11% | 45% | 65% | |
| History | 141 | 11% | 29% | 44% | |
| Combined Science | 122 | 1% | 12% | 34% | |
| Religious Studies | 108 | 22% | 62% | 78% | |
| French | 98 | 14% | 54% | 66% | |
| Biology | 81 | 17% | 63% | 89% | |
| Physics | 80 | 16% | 69% | 88% | |
| Chemistry | 80 | 20% | 74% | 91% | |
| Geography | 58 | 12% | 31% | 48% | |
| Art and Design | 37 | 19% | 57% | 92% |
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.