Blackpool Aspire Academy
Academy sponsor led · 799 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 36.7
Free schools
Armfield Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 1,221of 1,220 places
- Free school meals
- 39.9%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 152
- Ofsted
- Good, 7 February 2023Read the Ofsted report
What the data says
Armfield Academy has no sixth form. Of the 158 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 31% moved to a sixth form college, 51% to a further education college and 2% started an apprenticeship.
GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 35.6 against 46.1 across England and 37.0 in Blackpool, with 20% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 35% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 31% of leavers went to one, roughly twice the England rate of 13%.
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 Blackpool and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Armfield Academy | Blackpool | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 158 | 1,331 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 87% | 84% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 83% | 77% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 1% | 6% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 31% | 24% | 13% |
| — further education college | 51% | 44% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 3% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 3% | 5% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 6% | 11% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 6% | 5% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Armfield Academy | Blackpool | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 35.6 | 37.0 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 20% | 30% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 45% | 51% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 52% | 18% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.29 | 3.16 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 43% | 48% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 29.6 | 29.7 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 40.1 | 43.9 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 8% | 11% | 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 | 149 | 98% | 89% | 9% | 20% | 57% |
| Mathematics | 149 | 98% | 88% | 6% | 22% | 52% |
| English Literature | 145 | 95% | 86% | 7% | 21% | 54% |
| History | 90 | 59% | 41% | 12% | 26% | 50% |
| Combined Science | 88 | 58% | 65% | 0% | 9% | 32% |
| French | 80 | 53% | 18% | 6% | 29% | 59% |
| Physics | 59 | 39% | 23% | 14% | 46% | 78% |
| Biology | 59 | 39% | 23% | 15% | 45% | 88% |
| Chemistry | 59 | 39% | 23% | 10% | 47% | 73% |
| Art and Design | 53 | 35% | 7% | 6% | 24% | 53% |
| Geography | 41 | 27% | 41% | 10% | 25% | 39% |
| Design and Technology | 36 | 24% | 11% | 0% | 23% | 14% |
| Religious Studies | 15 | 10% | 31% | 7% | 32% | 33% |
| Computer Science | 12 | 8% | 13% | 8% | 30% | 42% |
| Italian | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Astronomy | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 29% | — |
| Urdu | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
| Polish | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Spanish | 1 | 1% | 19% | — | 27% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 50 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 36 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 10 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Blackpool
Highfield Leadership Academy
Academy sponsor led · 751 pupils
72% stayed in education · Attainment 8 30.0
Montgomery Academy
Academy converter · 1,192 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.0
South Shore Academy
Academy sponsor led · 550 pupils
60% stayed in education · Attainment 8 26.3
St George's School A Church of England Academy
Academy converter · 1,038 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 55.5
St Mary's Catholic Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,188 pupils
82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.5
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.