Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School

Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School is a larger-than-average Church of England secondary school in a single academy trust. Inspectors found the school performing well overall. Safeguarding standards are met, and attendance and behaviour are strong: pupils attend regularly, behave respectfully and feel safe, with bullying rare and handled quickly. Most other areas are at the expected standard. The school has a broad, ambitious curriculum and provides effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. Pupils achieve well at key stage 4, with attainment above the national average in many subjects, and destinations after 16 are consistently strong. The sixth form is caring and well regarded, and pupils benefit from a wide personal development offer and a well-considered careers programme.

Strengths

• Attendance is well above national average, with persistent absence low.
• Pupils behave respectfully and kindly; lessons are calm and bullying is rare.
• Leaders respond swiftly to attendance and behaviour issues, including tailored support.
• Pupils achieve well at key stage 4, with attainment above national average in many subjects.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ attainment is in line with national average and the gap is narrowing.
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and their needs are met effectively.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, with clear recent improvements, for example in English.
• Inclusion is strong: disadvantaged pupils access enriching opportunities and alternative provision is used thoughtfully.
• Governance is effective; governors fulfil statutory duties and provide strategic support and challenge.
• Staff morale is high, with a positive 'family feel' and attention to workload and wellbeing.
• Parents speak highly of leaders and value communication about learning.
• Personal development is ambitious, with a wide range of activities, leadership roles and a well-considered careers programme.
• Sixth form provides strong pastoral support and students are well prepared for next steps.
• Destinations after key stage 4 are consistently above national average.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment strategies to identify gaps and address misconceptions are not embedded consistently across all subjects and key stages.
• Some teachers do not identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge effectively, so misconceptions can persist.
• Numeracy interventions are less well developed than reading and writing interventions.
• Sixth-form achievement requires improvement; learning activities do not consistently promote greater depth of knowledge.
• A-level average point score and value added were below national averages in 2024/25.
• Some pupils do not have deep or detailed knowledge of some personal development topics.

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 Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School attended 93.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 12.0% 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, 4.3% of pupils at Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No 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 Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School had 18.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.0% 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, 8.3% of pupils at Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.8% 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 2024–25 Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School received £7,656 and spent £7,318 for each of its 1,294 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £530,000 (£410 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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What is Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School have?

Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School has 1,280 pupils on roll.

What age range does Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School cover?

Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 50.5, and 56% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School?

Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School is at Queen's Road West, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 4AY.