Darwen Vale High School
Secondary · Academy sponsor led · Mixed · Blackburn with Darwen
Blackburn Road, Darwen, BB3 0AL
61
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Good
Graded 30/01/2024
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
89.8%
29.1% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,039
Capacity used
Has space87%
1,200 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
218 of 218 families who put it first got an offer
235
Places offered
486
Total applications
2.1
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 218 | 218 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 184 | 12 | ● 7% |
| 3rd preference | 84 | 3 | ● 4% |
| Total | 486 | 233 | 48% |
1st preference success by year
Blackburn with Darwen lets families list 3 preferences. 8 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 sponsor led
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Jessica Giraud
- Address
- Blackburn Road, Darwen, BB3 0AL
- Phone
- 01254223000
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Ward / constituency
- Darwen West · Rossendale and Darwen
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 141321
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 32% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 6% | — | — |
| SEN support | 17% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: ALDRIDGE EDUCATION
1,039 pupils · 1,200 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
30 January 2024
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 · 1,106 pupils
Attendance
89.8%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
10.2%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
29.1%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
5.8%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
5.2%
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 | 42.5 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.29 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 43% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 58% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.58 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 43.1 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 40.4% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 57.8% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 10.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.6 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 218 | — |
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 | 215 | 17% | 45% | 65% | |
| English Language | 215 | 14% | 51% | 63% | |
| English Literature | 211 | 17% | 50% | 64% | |
| Combined Science | 194 | 7% | 35% | 59% | |
| History | 141 | 21% | 46% | 56% | |
| Art and Design | 92 | 9% | 48% | 82% | |
| Geography | 55 | 20% | 47% | 53% | |
| French | 25 | 52% | 88% | 96% | |
| Biology | 18 | 22% | 78% | 94% | |
| Computer Science | 18 | 11% | 33% | 39% | |
| Physics | 17 | 29% | 94% | 100% | |
| Chemistry | 17 | 35% | 94% | 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.