Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy
Secondary · Academy sponsor led · Mixed · Blackburn with Darwen
North Road, Blackburn, BB1 1PY
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headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Requires improvement
Graded 16/05/2023
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
86.2%
40.5% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
770
Capacity used
Nearly full94%
821 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
96 of 96 families who put it first got an offer
144
Places offered
189
Total applications
1.3
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 96 | 96 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 59 | 6 | ● 10% |
| 3rd preference | 34 | 5 | ● 15% |
| Total | 189 | 107 | 57% |
1st preference success by year
Blackburn with Darwen lets families list 3 preferences. 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
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Tonino Passarello
- Address
- North Road, Blackburn, BB1 1PY
- Phone
- 01254588388
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Ward / constituency
- Blackburn South East · Blackburn
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 150308
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 48% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 34% | — | — |
| SEN support | 27% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 5 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: ROMERO CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
770 pupils · 821 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
16 May 2023
Full graded inspection
Requires improvement overall effectivenessPersonal development Requires improvement Quality of education Requires improvement Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 864 pupils
Attendance
86.2%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
13.8%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
40.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
8.0%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
8.0%
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 over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 37.2 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 22.5% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 42.1% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 32.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.16 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 178 | — |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
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.