Witton Park Academy
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Blackburn with Darwen
Buncer Lane, Blackburn, BB2 6TD
51
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
90.8%
26.4% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,243
Capacity used
Over capacity101%
1,230 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
101 of 101 families who put it first got an offer
221
Places offered
435
Total applications
2.0
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 101 | 101 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 140 | 43 | ● 31% |
| 3rd preference | 194 | 24 | ● 12% |
| Total | 435 | 168 | 39% |
1st preference success by year
Blackburn with Darwen lets families list 3 preferences. 5 applications came from outside the council area (1 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
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Martin Knowles
- Address
- Buncer Lane, Blackburn, BB2 6TD
- Phone
- 01254264551
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Ward / constituency
- Billinge & Beardwood · Blackburn
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 140879
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 42% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 62% | — | — |
| SEN support | 16% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH COLLABORATION TRUST
1,243 pupils · 1,230 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 26
24 February 2026
S5 Inspection · report card
Inclusion Needs attention Achievement Needs attention Safeguarding standards Met Curriculum and teaching Needs attention Attendance and behaviour Needs attention Leadership and governance Needs attention Early years Not applicable Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention Post-16 provision Not applicable - 21
04 November 2021
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,374 pupils
Attendance
90.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
9.2%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
26.4%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
3.3%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
3.1%
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 | 36.0 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.70 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 31% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 53% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.19 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 40.3 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 36.6% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 57.3% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 32.1% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.49 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 262 | — |
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 | 261 | 15% | 39% | 61% | |
| English Language | 259 | 19% | 53% | 66% | |
| English Literature | 242 | 20% | 62% | 74% | |
| Combined Science | 182 | 2% | 20% | 44% | |
| Religious Studies | 177 | 16% | 54% | 63% | |
| Geography | 135 | 7% | 24% | 38% | |
| History | 114 | 11% | 33% | 52% | |
| French | 82 | 5% | 24% | 49% | |
| Social Studies | 79 | 18% | 57% | 67% | |
| Physics | 71 | 41% | 76% | 85% | |
| Biology | 61 | 36% | 87% | 98% | |
| Chemistry | 60 | 47% | 88% | 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 Blackburn with Darwen 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.