Pleckgate High School
Secondary · Academy sponsor led · Mixed · Blackburn with Darwen
Pleckgate Road, Blackburn, BB1 8QA
63
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Outstanding
Graded 05/06/2024
Application demand
84%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
92.5%
22.5% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,339
Capacity used
Nearly full99%
1,350 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
84%
1st preference success rate
206 of 244 families who put it first got an offer
268
Places offered
643
Total applications
2.4
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 244 | 206 | ● 84% |
| 2nd preference | 260 | 54 | ● 21% |
| 3rd preference | 139 | 8 | ● 6% |
| Total | 643 | 268 | 42% |
1st preference success by year
Blackburn with Darwen lets families list 3 preferences. 19 applications came from outside the council area (2 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
- A McGinty
- Address
- Pleckgate Road, Blackburn, BB1 8QA
- Phone
- 01254249134
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Ward / constituency
- Roe Lee · Blackburn
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 142088
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 24% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 23% | — | — |
| SEN support | 13% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP TRUST
1,339 pupils · 1,350 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
05 June 2024
Full graded inspection
Outstanding overall effectivenessPersonal development Outstanding Quality of education Outstanding Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding - 23
30 March 2023
Ungraded inspection
School remains Outstanding (Concerns) - S5 Next
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,369 pupils
Attendance
92.5%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
7.5%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
22.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
1.5%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.2%
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 | 44.0 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.01 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 43% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 62% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 3.93 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 49.2 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 47.1% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 71.2% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 44.2% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.26 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 274 | — |
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 | 274 | 25% | 51% | 73% | |
| English Language | 274 | 20% | 61% | 77% | |
| English Literature | 273 | 24% | 67% | 84% | |
| Religious Studies | 267 | 27% | 66% | 79% | |
| Combined Science | 188 | 5% | 27% | 52% | |
| Geography | 145 | 12% | 34% | 49% | |
| History | 123 | 25% | 57% | 67% | |
| French | 115 | 7% | 43% | 63% | |
| Biology | 84 | 45% | 83% | 93% | |
| Physics | 84 | 37% | 86% | 94% | |
| Business | 84 | 18% | 51% | 69% | |
| Chemistry | 84 | 48% | 81% | 93% |
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.