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St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn

Ofsted: Good · March 2025State secondary · 11 to 16MixedRoman Catholic1,051 pupils
Green Lane, Blackburn, BB2 4SR · Blackburn with Darwen
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COULD YOUR CHILD GET A PLACE? · YEAR 7 2027

Offers reached between 0.16 and 0.29 miles in the last 2 years we hold. Enter your postcode to see where your home falls.

Free, no account needed. Your postcode is used for this check and not kept.

Summary

The key facts, in one place
GCSE (key stage 4) The league rank: the school's place among its council's schools of the same phase on the newest year's DfE results, the same rank as on the Schools map. England: the same figure across England. Band: Top 42%.
5thof 12 in Blackburn with Darwen
1,742ndof 3,223 in England
Top 42%band
See the Blackburn with Darwen league table →
Inspection
Good, March 2025
Getting in
Oversubscribed; last offer 0.29 mi (2026)
Results
-0.25 progress 8; 45.4 attainment 8
Size
1,051 pupils; 207 places a year; classes of 23
Faith
Roman Catholic
Run by
Blackburn with Darwen council
Type
Voluntary aided school
Ages
11 to 16 · Mixed
Ofsted, March 2025The judgements from the school's latest inspection. Reports from November 2025 use Ofsted's new report card, with different headings; we show whichever the latest report uses.Read the report ↗
Quality of educationGood
Behaviour and attitudesGood
Leadership and managementGood
Strengths, and things to check
  • English and maths, grade 5+: 52%, against 44% in Blackburn with Darwen.
  • Sessions missed: 7.5%, against 8.0% in Blackburn with Darwen.
  • Progress 8: -0.25, against -0.10 in Blackburn with Darwen.
  • Suspensions per 100 pupils: 16.7, against 13.8 in Blackburn with Darwen.
Schools for usRank every school near you by the measures that matter to your family, each reason shown.Rank schools →

At a glance

Against Blackburn with Darwen and England
This schoolBlackburn with DarwenEnglandHover or tap a bar for the figures
Academic
Progress 8How far pupils progressed between the end of primary school and GCSEs, against pupils across England who started at the same level. 0 is average; +0.5 means half a grade better in each subject.
-0.25
Worse than Blackburn with Darwen
Attainment 8The average GCSE score across eight subjects, including English and maths counted twice. A grade 5 in all eight would score 50.
45.4
In line with Blackburn with Darwen
English and maths, grade 5+The share of pupils with grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE (a strong pass).
52%
Better than Blackburn with Darwen
Attendance and behaviour
Sessions missedHalf-day sessions missed, authorised or not, as a share of all sessions in the school year (DfE pupil absence). Lower is better.
7.5%
Better than Blackburn with Darwen
Persistently absentPupils who missed one session in ten or more. Lower is better.
19.6%
Better than Blackburn with Darwen
Suspensions per 100 pupilsSuspensions in the school year for every 100 pupils on roll. Lower is better; one or two incidents move a small school a lot.
16.7
Worse than Blackburn with Darwen
Pupils and classes
Average class sizeAverage pupils per class, from the school census. Shown for context, not as a score.
22.6
Context
Free school mealsPupils eligible for free school meals. Context for reading the results, not a measure of the school.
21%
Context
Pupils for each teacherPupils on roll for each full-time teacher, from the school workforce census. Shown for context.
15.7
Context
Demand for places
First choices per placeFamilies who put this school first, for each Year 7 place in 2026 (DfE applications and offers). Above 1 means more first choices than places.
1.3
More sought after than Blackburn with Darwen
Blackburn with Darwen and England: DfE's own averages for results. For the rest, the middle state secondary school of the same phase, from every school we hold, since DfE publishes no council figure we hold.Guide: what these measures mean →

Overview

Getting in

  • A Roman Catholic school: its admissions policy may give priority by faith. DfE, Get Information about Schools
  • 262 families put it first for 207 places; 205 of them got in DfE, school applications and offers · Year 7 2026
  • We hold no catchment map for this school, so we can't say which addresses are inside it.
  • Some places go first to children from named primary schools: see the feeder rules below.

Quality

  • Good Ofsted · inspected 4 March 2025
  • Progress 8: -0.25 (England +0.01) (county -0.10) DfE school performance tables · 2023/2024
  • Attainment 8: 45.4 (England 47.4) (county 45.1) DfE school performance tables · 2025/2026
  • English and maths grade 5 or above: 52% (England 48%) (county 44%) DfE school performance tables · 2025/2026
  • Progress, set against pupils who started with the same results: below average DfE school performance tables · 2023/2024

Daily life

  • Absence: 7.5% of sessions missed; 20% of pupils miss 1 in 10 or more. Schools with a similar intake: 8.5% and 24% DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level · 2024/25
  • Suspensions: 17 per 100 pupils (schools with a similar intake: 17); 5 permanent exclusions DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level · 2024/25
  • Classes average 22.6 pupils; 3.0% of classes have more than 30 DfE, school workforce and pupil census · 2025/26
  • 15.7 pupils for each teacher DfE, school workforce · November 2025
  • Nearest stops, in a straight line: bus 48 m, rail 651 m DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes) · within 800 m
  • 4 police-reported road collisions within 500 m (0 fatal, 1 serious) DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years · 2021 to 2025
  • Air: nitrogen dioxide 7.4 µg/m³, PM2.5 6.1 (1 km square, background level) DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps · 2024

Who runs it

  • Voluntary aided school is run by its local council (Blackburn with Darwen), not by an academy trust. DfE, Get Information about Schools

Getting in

How far offers reached

How far away the last child offered a place under the distance rule lived, as the council measures it. It changes every year with who applies: a record, not a promise. Children with a higher priority can be offered places from further away.

Year 7. Distance of the last child offered a place on offer day. How places are offered →

Last distance offeredAdd your home to this chart
1 mi0.50
20202026

Offer day, year by year

EntryYearPlacesApplicationsOfferedRefusedLast distance (miles)
Year 72026218545——0.29
Year 72020—534——0.16

Source: Council offer-day figures: Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, 2020 to 2026. A dash is a figure the council does not publish, not nought. Distances are straight lines from the school.

Applications and offers, DfE

EntryYearPlacesFirst choicesAny choiceFirst choices offered
Year 72026207262521205
Year 72025203238533201
Year 72024204264569202
Year 72023204245517203
Year 72022205249530203
Year 72021201317480199
Year 72020204282497199
Year 72019205243444203
Year 72018200244429196
Year 72017209235428204

Source: DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence), 2014 to 2026. Families name up to three schools, so most applications are somebody's second or third choice.

Feeder school rules

Partner primary schools · Year 7

Priority position: 3 (baptised Catholic children; after 1 Catholic looked after, 2 Catholic siblings) and 7 (non-Catholic children from the partner primaries)

3. Baptised Catholic children from the following Partner Primary Schools: St. Paul's, Feniscowles, St. Peter's, Mill Hill, St. Edward's, Darwen, St. Joseph's, Darwen, Sacred Heart, Blackburn, and Feniscowles Primary School (see note (d)).

Feeder schools: St. Paul's, Feniscowles, St. Peter's, Mill Hill, St. Edward's, Darwen, St. Joseph's, Darwen, Sacred Heart, Blackburn, Feniscowles Primary School

From the admission arrangements for 2027/28: the document, page 2.

Quoted word for word from the arrangements the school or council published. Check the quote against the school's own current admission policy before you rely on it: rules change each year.

Could you get in?Enter a home or postcode: we set it against every year's last offer and this school's rules.

Results

Results

MeasureThis schoolEnglandCouncilYear
Progress 8-0.25+0.01-0.102023/2024
Attainment 845.447.445.12025/2026
English and maths grade 5 or above52%48%44%2025/2026

Source: DfE school performance tables, 2023/2024, 2025/2026.

League table place

TableBandEnglandCouncil
GCSE (key stage 4)Top 42%1,742 of 3,2235 of 12

Source: DfE school performance tables: the newest year's results, place among the council's schools of the same phase.

Inspections

DateKindOutcome
4 March 2025Graded inspectionQuality of education: Good

Source: Ofsted, 2025.

Where leavers go

StageLeavers inPupilsIn a sustained placeOf which
After GCSEs2023/2421687%In education 78%; Apprenticeship 7.4%; Employment 1.4%
After GCSEs2022/2320787%In education 75%; Apprenticeship 8.7%; Employment 3.4%
After GCSEs2021/2220894%In education 76%; Apprenticeship 10%; Employment 7.7%

Source: DfE, destination measures. A figure DfE hides for a small group is left out, not shown as nought. The newest year may be provisional.

Blackburn with Darwen league tableEvery school of this phase in the council on these results.See the table →

Daily life

Absence

YearSessions missedAuthorisedUnauthorisedPupils missing 1 in 10Pupils missing 1 in 2
2024/257.5%5.4%2.1%20%3.0%
2023/249.1%6.7%2.4%27%4.1%
2022/238.8%6.9%1.8%25%2.8%
Schools with a similar intake8.5%24%

Source: DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level, 2024-25. Similar intake: state schools of the same phase with free school meals in the same band (20-30%), the median of 896 schools.

Suspensions and exclusions

YearSuspensions per 100 pupilsPupils suspendedSuspensionsPermanent exclusions
2024/2516.76.1%1745
2023/248.55.1%903
2022/2310.44.5%1101
Schools with a similar intake16.8

Source: DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level, 2024-25.

Class sizes and staff

MeasureFigureYear
Average class size22.62025/26
Classes over 30 pupils3.0%2025/26
Pupils for each teacher15.7November 2025

Source: DfE, school workforce; school census, 2025/26.

Stops nearby

KindNearest (metres, straight line)
bus48
rail651

Source: DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes), current. A stop across a railway or main road may be a long walk. Bus frequency is not held.

Road collisions within 500 m

YearCollisions
20250
20242
20232
20220
20210

Source: DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years, 2021 to 2025. 1 serious and 0 fatal in all; 2 involved a pedestrian, 0 a cyclist. Only collisions with an injury reported to police are counted.

Air quality

PollutantAnnual mean (µg/m³)Year
NO27.42024
PM109.52024
PM256.12024

Source: DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps. A 1 km background figure: not the air at the school gate beside a busy road.

Pupils

Who goes there

MeasureShare of pupilsYear
Eligible for free school meals21%2025/26
First language other than English7.5%2025/26
SEN support14%2025/26
Education, health and care plan3.4%2025/26
Girls50%2025/26

Source: DfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs, 2025/26.

Who runs it

Who runs it

  • Voluntary aided school is run by its local council (Blackburn with Darwen), not by an academy trust. DfE, Get Information about Schools

Area

Homes in reach of this schoolLook up any home near here: its sales, an open-data valuation, and which schools it keeps in reach.Search homes →

Sources

  • Council offer-day figures: Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
  • DEFRA, Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) 1 km background maps
  • DfE school performance tables
  • DfE school performance tables: the newest year's results, place among the council's schools of the same phase
  • DfE, Primary and secondary school applications and offers (school level, Open Government Licence)
  • DfE, Pupil absence in schools in England: absence rates by school level
  • DfE, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England: school level
  • DfE, destination measures
  • DfE, school workforce; school census
  • DfE, schools, pupils and their characteristics; special educational needs
  • DfT, NaPTAN (National Public Transport Access Nodes)
  • DfT, Road safety data (STATS19): collisions and casualties, last five years
  • Ofsted
  • School register: DfE Get Information about Schools (this school)
  • How we check these figures: How we know

More in schools in Blackburn and the Blackburn with Darwen league table. School register: DfE Get Information about Schools, updated 17 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sources are named beside each figure. All sources.