Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn

Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School is a welcoming and inclusive school where pupils quickly develop a strong sense of belonging, and staff know pupils well. The school’s work to support vulnerable pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, is a particular strength. Pupils behave well, feel safe, and benefit from a rich personal development and enrichment offer, including trips, clubs, leadership roles and careers guidance. Safeguarding standards are met. Pupils typically achieve well, and disadvantaged pupils make notably strong progress from their starting points. Curriculums are carefully designed in most subjects, teaching is generally effective, and reading support is a clear success. However, in a small number of subjects, gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not identified and addressed promptly enough, and assessment is not consistently aligned with the curriculum. Attendance is broadly in line with national averages, but persistent absence remains a concern. Leaders have taken action to improve attendance and punctuality, yet their oversight of the impact of this work is not thorough enough, which can slow progress for pupils who miss school frequently. The school is a Roman Catholic secondary school in Hyndburn with 795 pupils, serving an area of well-above-average deprivation.

Strengths

• Inclusive culture and strong sense of belonging, especially for vulnerable pupils
• Robust systems to identify additional needs and barriers to learning
• Highly positive staff-pupil relationships and strong family ethos
• Effective use of pupil premium to support disadvantaged pupils
• Disadvantaged pupils make strong progress from their starting points
• Rich personal development programme with extensive enrichment and leadership opportunities
• Pupils learn about safety, healthy relationships, mental health and British values
• Comprehensive careers programme that raises aspirations
• Pupils behave well, follow routines and bullying is rare
• Carefully designed curriculums and effective teacher explanation of difficult concepts
• Effective reading support helps pupils read fluently and confidently
• Leaders and governors put pupils first and fulfil statutory duties
• Staff wellbeing and professional learning are well supported
• Safeguarding standards are met

Areas for Improvement

• Leaders' oversight of the impact of persistent absence work is not thorough enough
• Some pupils who persistently miss school do not receive sufficiently rapid support to overcome attendance barriers
• In a small number of subjects, gaps in pupils' knowledge are not identified and addressed promptly
• In a few subjects, assessment checks do not closely enough identify gaps in pupils' understanding
• Assessment strategies are not consistently aligned with curriculum knowledge across all subjects
• Leaders' analysis of attendance actions is less thorough, slowing improvement

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn attended 90.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.6% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 8.4% of pupils at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 9 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn had 16.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 11.1% of pupils at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn received £8,665 and spent £8,696 for each of its 802 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £454,000 (£567 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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What is Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn last inspected by Ofsted?

Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn have?

Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn has 801 pupils on roll.

What age range does Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn cover?

Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 43.5, and 36% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn?

Mount Carmel Roman Catholic High School, Hyndburn is at Wordsworth Road, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 0LU.