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Pleckgate High School

Secondary Ages 11-16 1,339 pupils Blackburn
Ofsted: Outstanding
All schools in Blackburn

Pleckgate High School is an academy sponsor led in Blackburn for pupils aged 11 to 16. It has 1,339 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for Pleckgate High School is Outstanding, from an inspection in July 2024. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.8, and 43% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Ofsted inspection: July 2024. GCSE results: 2026.

Type Secondary / Academy sponsor led
Age Range 11-16
Religion Does not apply
Address Pleckgate Road
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB1 8QA
Phone 01254249134
Reference Number 142088

General Makeup

Number of pupils 1339
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 56.39%
Girls: 43.61%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 24.1%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 26.7%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 25.3

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 154 114 268
8 160 107 267
9 161 109 270
10 139 131 270
11 141 123 264

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
Pakistani 50.7%
Indian 27.6%
Asian, Other 5%
White, British 2.3%
White & Asian 2.3%
White, Other 1%
Mixed, Other 1%
African 0.7%
White & Black (Caribbean) 0.1%
Chinese 0.1%
Unclassified 0.1%
White & Black (African) 0.1%

Pleckgate High School is performing exceptionally well, maintaining an outstanding overall effectiveness grade. The school fosters a high academic culture, enabling pupils to set aspirational goals and achieve exceptional results across the curriculum. The strong support from teachers and the harmonious environment contribute to exemplary pupil behavior and a dedicated approach to personal development. Furthermore, the leadership from the headteacher and the Education Partnership Trust ensures robust oversight and direction that benefits all students, including those with special educational needs.

Overall Ofsted Rating Outstanding
 >  Quality of education Outstanding
  >  Behaviour & Attitude Outstanding
  >  Personal Development Outstanding
  >  Leadership & Management Outstanding
Last Report Date 05 Jun 2024
Date Report
05 Jun 2024 School inspection:
29 Mar 2023 School inspection
29 Jan 2019 Full inspection:

Strengths

  • Pupils develop strong aspirational goals for their future.
  • Exceptional support from teachers fosters resilience and determination.
  • Broad and ambitious curriculum effectively meets students' needs.
  • High levels of pupil behavior and well-being.
  • Strong commitment to personal development and active citizenship.

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

  • English
  • Maths
  • 3 subjects from qualifications that count towards the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), like sciences, language and history
  • 3 more GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or technical awards from a list approved by the Department for Education

Each grade a pupil gets is assigned a point score from 9 (the highest) to 1 (the lowest). These scores are added up, with English and maths counted twice.

School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
46.8

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 43%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 59.3%

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

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GCSE Results

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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 276 41
Third Preference 140 6
From another Local Authority 21 1

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Pleckgate High School had 1,360 pupils for 1,350 places. That is 10 more pupils than the school has room for.

Pupils and places

Year 7 intake in the “Blackburn Secondary” planning area

Blackburn with Darwen counted 1,768 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 1,338 in 2031–32, down 24%.

201620172018201920212022202320242025
Places 1,3501,3501,3501,3501,3501,3501,3501,3501,350
Pupils 1,0991,0961,0701,0901,2361,2911,3291,3581,360
Unfilled 18.6%18.8%20.7%19.3%8.4%4.4%1.6%0.0%0.0%

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 Pleckgate High School attended 92.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

201620172018201920212022202320242025
Authorised absence 4.9%4.2%3.8%3.8%4.4%5.5%5.3%5.0%5.3%
Unauthorised absence 1.8%1.5%1.4%1.1%1.5%2.0%2.5%2.4%2.2%
Severely absent pupils 0.5%1.3%0.6%0.6%1.5%0.8%1.7%1.9%1.5%

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, 2.2% of pupils at Pleckgate High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

201720182019202020212022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 3.74.55.66.84.95.26.15.42.6
Permanent exclusions 000422311

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 Pleckgate High School had 18.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Pupils per adult 10.511.211.112.512.012.813.213.011.712.6
Teachers who left state teaching 18.3%6.4%13.9%6.2%7.0%12.7%4.8%7.7%5.3%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 59.0%51.4%60.0%–42.7%59.2%62.3%70.1%56.4%–
Sick days per teacher 8.25.46.7–4.13.62.85.63.2–

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, 14.9% of pupils at Pleckgate High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Speech, language and communication needs 72 14
Social, emotional and mental health 62 2
Moderate learning difficulty 29 3
Specific learning difficulty 18 1
Physical disability 8 2
Vision impairment 5 2
Autistic spectrum disorder 2 4
Hearing impairment 3 1

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 Pleckgate High School received £8,275 and spent £8,166 for each of its 1,354 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,350,000 (£997 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

2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue reserve £488,000£518,000£663,000£970,000£1,194,000£1,024,000£1,350,000
per pupil £450£447£539£747£894£758£997
In-year balance -£186,000-£24,000-£156,000£697,000£31,000-£381,000£148,000
per pupil -£172-£21-£127£537£23-£282£109

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.

Name Distance
Holy Souls Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn
Wilworth Crescent, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 8QN
0.25 miles
St Gabriel's Church of England Primary School
Wilworth Crescent, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 8QN
0.26 miles
Lammack Primary School
Lammack Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 8LH
0.42 miles
Cedars Primary School
St. James's Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 8HQ
0.6 miles
Roe Lee Park Primary School
Emerald Avenue, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 9RP
0.68 miles
St James' Church of England Primary School Blackburn
Earl Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 8EG
0.72 miles
Brookhouse Primary School
Troy Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 6NY
0.82 miles
Queen Elizabeth's Primary School
West Park Road, QEGS West Park Rd, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 6DF
1.05 miles
St Michael With St John CofE Primary School
Swallow Drive, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 6LE
1.12 miles
Rawdhatul Uloom Islamic Primary School
184 Whalley Old Rd, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5NZ
1.12 miles
St Stephen's Church of England Primary School
Robinson Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5PE
1.13 miles
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn
Lynwood Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 6HQ
1.18 miles
Dar Ul Madinah
Granville Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 6HD
1.22 miles
St Alban's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn
Trinity Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5BN
1.23 miles
Daisyfield Primary School
Clinton Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5LB
1.24 miles
St Silas's CofE Primary School
St Silas Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 6JP
1.27 miles
St Anne's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn
Feilden Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 1LQ
1.4 miles
Ashworth Nursery School
Addison Close, Blackburn, BB2 1QU
1.44 miles
St Barnabas and St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School
Oakenhurst Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 1SN
1.44 miles
The Olive School, Blackburn
Meins Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 6QQ
1.5 miles
Name Distance
Islamiyah School
Willow Street, Little Harwood, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5NQ
0.9 miles
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School
West Park Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 6DF
1.05 miles
Jamiatul-Ilm Wal-Huda UK School
30 Moss Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5JT
1.35 miles
Rawdhatul Ilm Wal Huda
32 Moss Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5JT
1.37 miles
Blackburn College
Blackburn College, Harrison Centre, Feilden Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 1LH
1.37 miles
Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School
Preston New Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 7AD
1.39 miles
St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy
Duckworth Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 2JR
1.76 miles
Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School
Sumner Street, Blackburn, BB2 2LD
1.78 miles
Al Islah Girls' High School
108 Audley Range, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 1TF
1.83 miles
Witton Park Academy
Buncer Lane, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 6TD
2.01 miles
Westholme School
Wilmar Lodge, Blackburn, BB2 6QU
2.03 miles
Blackburn Central High School
Haslingden Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 3HJ
2.15 miles
Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy
North Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 1PY
2.32 miles
Markazul Uloom
Park Lee Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 3NY
2.35 miles
Noorul Uloom
Park Lee Rd, Blackburn, BB2 3NY
2.35 miles
Newfield School
Old Bank Lane, Off Shadsworth Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 2PW
2.53 miles
The Hyndburn Academy
Stourton Street, Rishton, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 4ED
2.82 miles
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn
Green Lane, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 4SR
3.05 miles
The Willows
Willow Grange, Henry Street, Rishton, Lancashire, BB1 4JJ
3.09 miles
Eden School
Heys Lane, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 4NW
3.17 miles

All schools in Blackburn · Blackburn with Darwen local authority: places and applications

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

What is Pleckgate High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Pleckgate High School is Outstanding, from an inspection in July 2024.

When was Pleckgate High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Pleckgate High School was last inspected in July 2024.

How many pupils does Pleckgate High School have?

Pleckgate High School has 1,339 pupils on roll.

What age range does Pleckgate High School cover?

Pleckgate High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Pleckgate High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.8, and 43% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Pleckgate High School?

Pleckgate High School is at Pleckgate Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 8QA.

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