Burnley High School

Burnley High School is a smaller-than-average secondary school in Burnley, part of the Education Partnership Trust, with a higher-than-average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals and above-average SEN support. Inspected in May 2026 under section 5, the school is judged to be strong standard overall, with attendance and behaviour also strong. Most other areas, including achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing, are at the expected standard. Safeguarding standards are met. Pupils benefit from an extremely positive culture, exemplary behaviour, and strong care and support for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. Attendance has improved notably and is close to national averages overall, while attendance for SEND and disadvantaged pupils is higher than national averages. Leaders have brought greater stability, improved the curriculum, and provided effective training for staff. Pupils feel safe, relationships are warm and respectful, and the personal development offer is broadening, including careers support and a range of enrichment activities. However, overall attainment remains below national averages in some measures, and disadvantaged pupils' outcomes, while often close to national disadvantaged averages, still show a wide gap compared with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. Destinations after 16 are below national averages. Leaders should sharpen the monitoring of additional literacy and numeracy support, ensure staff consistently use information about learning gaps to correct misconceptions, use enrichment tracking more effectively to widen participation, and embed older pupils' PSHE so they develop deeper understanding.

Strengths

• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils receive an extremely high level of care and support.
• Attendance for SEND and disadvantaged pupils is higher than national averages and improving.
• Overall attendance is close to national averages and has improved notably over time.
• Pupils' behaviour is exemplary and consistently impressive.
• Leaders promote a calm, purposeful atmosphere with clear routines and high expectations.
• Pupils show unwavering respect, courtesy and politeness, with older pupils as role models.
• Bullying incidents are responded to swiftly and effectively.
• Leaders have secured more stable staffing and improved the curriculum.
• Staff receive evidence-informed training and generally deliver the curriculum well.
• Disadvantaged pupils receive targeted support to access the full curriculum.
• Leaders identify pupils' needs quickly and accurately.
• Pupil premium funding is used carefully to enhance academic and personal support.
• Pupils with SEND are generally supported well through clear plans and specialist input.
• Pupils known to social care receive coordinated support from the safeguarding team.
• Leaders evaluate the impact of their actions well and refine strategies accordingly.
• Trustees and the local governing body provide appropriate support and challenge.
• Leaders keep staff workload and wellbeing under close review.
• The personal development programme is increasingly well structured, especially in key stage 3.
• Pupils develop a sound understanding of safety, British values and diversity.
• Extra-curricular opportunities, including clubs and Duke of Edinburgh, build resilience and independence.
• The careers programme has improved and helps pupils make informed choices.
• Pupils trust staff, feel safe, and value the support they receive.

Areas for Improvement

• Overall attainment in national tests is not in line with national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils' attainment and progress can lag national averages in some measures.
• Destinations after 16 are below national averages.
• Systems to check the impact of additional literacy and numeracy support are not precise enough.
• Staff do not consistently use information about gaps in pupils' knowledge to correct misconceptions quickly.
• Enrichment activity tracking is not used sharply enough to ensure vulnerable pupils fully participate.
• Older pupils' understanding of more complex PSHE content is still developing and not fully embedded.
• Some pupils' learning does not build securely over time when gap identification and adaptation are inconsistent.
• The disadvantage gap in English and maths GCSE remains wide compared with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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 Burnley High School attended 92.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.6% 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, 0.2% of pupils at Burnley High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Burnley High School had 17.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.7% 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, 16.8% of pupils at Burnley High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.1% 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 Burnley High School received £8,248 and spent £8,017 for each of its 621 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,192,000 (£1,920 per pupil).

Across all 6 schools of Education Partnership Trust, income was £8,209 and spending £8,226 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Burnley · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

Burnley High School is part of Education Partnership Trust, which runs 6 schools. The nearest others:

• Pleckgate High School Blackburn
• Eden School Blackburn
• Parklee Primary School Wigan
• Atherton High School Atherton
• Carr Hill High School Preston

What is Burnley High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Burnley High School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Burnley High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Burnley High School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Burnley High School have?

Burnley High School has 579 pupils on roll.

What age range does Burnley High School cover?

Burnley High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Burnley High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 38.9, and 28% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Burnley High School?

Burnley High School is at Byron Street, Burnley, Lancashire, BB12 6NX.