Blackburn Central High School
Academy converter · 1,015 pupils
81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.0
Academy sponsor led
Darwen Vale High School
- Pupils on roll
- 1,039of 1,200 places
- Free school meals
- 31.6%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 218
- Ofsted
- Good, 30 January 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Darwen Vale High School (URN 119763, until 10 September 2014).
What the data says
Darwen Vale High School has no sixth form. Of the 158 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 73% to a further education college and 3% started an apprenticeship.
13% of leavers were not in sustained education, employment or training six months on, compared with 6% nationally.
Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 30% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 43.1 against 46.1 across England and 45.4 in Blackburn with Darwen, with 40% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Blackburn with Darwen and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Darwen Vale High School | Blackburn with Darwen | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 158 | 2,152 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 82% | 88% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 75% | 83% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 1% | 17% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | 12% | 13% |
| — further education college | 73% | 52% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 4% | 2% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 13% | 9% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 6% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Darwen Vale High School | Blackburn with Darwen | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 43.1 | 45.4 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 40% | 44% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 63% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 11% | 39% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.60 | 3.98 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 31% | 30% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 34.5 | 35.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 47.0 | 49.7 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 9% | 29% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 215 | 99% | 89% | 14% | 20% | 63% |
| Mathematics | 215 | 99% | 88% | 17% | 22% | 65% |
| English Literature | 211 | 97% | 86% | 17% | 21% | 64% |
| Combined Science | 194 | 89% | 65% | 7% | 9% | 59% |
| History | 141 | 65% | 41% | 21% | 26% | 56% |
| Art and Design | 65 | 30% | 7% | 8% | 24% | 88% |
| Geography | 55 | 25% | 41% | 20% | 25% | 53% |
| Photography | 27 | 12% | 6% | 11% | 19% | 67% |
| French | 25 | 11% | 18% | 52% | 29% | 96% |
| Computer Science | 18 | 8% | 13% | 11% | 30% | 39% |
| Biology | 18 | 8% | 23% | 22% | 45% | 94% |
| Physics | 17 | 8% | 23% | 29% | 46% | 100% |
| Chemistry | 17 | 8% | 23% | 35% | 47% | 100% |
| Urdu | 4 | 2% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
| Citizenship Studies | 4 | 2% | 3% | — | 19% | — |
| Polish | 3 | 1% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Spanish | 1 | 0% | 19% | — | 27% | — |
| Italian | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Business Management | 91 | — | — |
| Sports / Movement Science | 60 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 55 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 30 | — | — |
| Dance: General | 7 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Blackburn with Darwen
Darwen Aldridge Community Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,036 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 36.5
Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio
Studio schools · sixth form · 275 pupils
87% stayed in education · Attainment 8 34.7
Pleckgate High School
Academy sponsor led · 1,339 pupils
85% stayed in education · Attainment 8 49.2
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School
Free schools · sixth form · 873 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.0
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn
Voluntary aided school · 1,051 pupils
75% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.4
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.