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Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy

Secondary Ages 11-16 770 pupils Blackburn
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Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy is an academy sponsor led in Blackburn for pupils aged 11 to 16. It has a Roman Catholic religious character. It has 770 pupils on roll. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 36.6, and 25% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE. Attendance is a concern: pupils missed 13.8% of sessions in 2024/25 (the national figure for secondary schools is 8.4%), and 41% of pupils were persistently absent. Many teachers don't stay: 32% of its teachers had left the school a year later (in 2024/25), against 14% nationally.

GCSE results: 2026.

Type Secondary / Academy sponsor led
Age Range 11-16
Religion Roman Catholic
Address North Road
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB1 1PY
Phone 01254588388
Reference Number 150308

General Makeup

Number of pupils 770
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 50.26%
Girls: 49.74%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 47.7%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 38.4%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 24.8

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 71 71 142
8 83 75 158
9 79 72 151
10 81 80 161
11 73 85 158

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 44.4%
Pakistani 20.5%
White, Other 11.8%
Unclassified 5.7%
African 3.6%
Indian 3.5%
Asian, Other 2.9%
White & Asian 1.4%
Mixed, Other 1.3%
White & Black (African) 0.4%
White & Black (Caribbean) 0.3%
Caribbean 0.3%
Chinese 0.1%

Overall Ofsted Rating
Last Report Date This school has not had an inspection yet.
Date Report

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)
36.6

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 24.7%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 38.4%

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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See how Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy ranks locally and nationally. Percentile rankings against every other school, historic result charts, admissions data and post-GCSE destinations are all included.

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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 48 7
Third Preference 41 3
From another Local Authority 5 0

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy had 811 pupils for 900 places. 89 places (9.9%) were unfilled.

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%.

20242025
Places 900900
Pupils 816811
Unfilled 9.3%9.9%

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 Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy attended 86.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 40.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

20242025
Authorised absence 5.5%5.7%
Unauthorised absence 9.3%8.0%
Severely absent pupils 8.6%8.0%

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, 18.6% of pupils at Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 10 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

20242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 97.6102.3
Permanent exclusions 910

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 Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy had 18.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 31.5% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

20252026
Pupils per adult 10.411.2
Teachers who left state teaching 12.0%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 67.9%–
Sick days per teacher 7.2–

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, 17.5% of pupils at Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy 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

SEN support EHC plan
Social, emotional and mental health 42 8
Speech, language and communication needs 39 10
Moderate learning difficulty 11 4
Physical disability 13 1
Autistic spectrum disorder 12 0
Specific learning difficulty 11 1
Hearing impairment 3 0
Severe learning difficulty 2 0
Vision impairment 2 0

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 Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy received £9,123 and spent £8,685 for each of its 814 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £32,000 (£39 per pupil).

Across all 16 schools of Romero Catholic Academy Trust, income was £8,388 and spending £8,280 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

2025
Revenue reserve £32,000
per pupil £39
In-year balance £356,000
per pupil £438

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
St Antony's RC Primary School
Shadsworth Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 2HP
0.09 miles
Shadsworth Junior School
Blackburn With Darwen, Shadsworth Junior School, Arran Avenue, Lancashire, BB1 2ET
0.34 miles
Shadsworth Infant School
Rothesay Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 2EL
0.35 miles
Audley Junior School
Queen's Park Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 1SE
0.55 miles
Audley Infant School
Queens Park Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 1SE
0.55 miles
Blackburn St Thomas' Church of England Primary School
Newton Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 1NE
0.57 miles
Knuzden St Oswald's Church of England Primary Academy
Mount St James, Stanhill Road, Knuzden, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 2DR
0.78 miles
Intack Primary School
Whitebirk Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 3HY
0.78 miles
St Mary's and St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn
Bennington Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 3HP
0.84 miles
St Matthew's Church of England Primary School
Withers Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 1DF
0.85 miles
Brunel Nursery School
Cambridge Street, Blackburn, BB1 1ES
0.87 miles
Daisyfield Primary School
Clinton Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5LB
1.12 miles
St Alban's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn
Trinity Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5BN
1.12 miles
Rawdhatul Uloom Islamic Primary School
184 Whalley Old Rd, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5NZ
1.27 miles
St James' Church of England Primary School
Off Stopes Brow, Lower Darwen, Darwen, Lancashire, BB3 0QP
1.29 miles
St Stephen's Church of England Primary School
Robinson Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5PE
1.3 miles
Longshaw Community Junior School
Park Lee Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 3NX
1.33 miles
St Michael With St John CofE Primary School
Swallow Drive, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 6LE
1.34 miles
St Anne's Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn
Feilden Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 1LQ
1.44 miles
Longshaw Infant School
Crosby Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 3NF
1.5 miles
Name Distance
Newfield School
Old Bank Lane, Off Shadsworth Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 2PW
0.34 miles
Al Islah Girls' High School
108 Audley Range, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 1TF
0.64 miles
Blackburn Central High School
Haslingden Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 3HJ
0.72 miles
Jamiatul-Ilm Wal-Huda UK School
30 Moss Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5JT
1.02 miles
Rawdhatul Ilm Wal Huda
32 Moss Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5JT
1.03 miles
Markazul Uloom
Park Lee Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 3NY
1.15 miles
Noorul Uloom
Park Lee Rd, Blackburn, BB2 3NY
1.15 miles
Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School
Sumner Street, Blackburn, BB2 2LD
1.46 miles
Blackburn College
Blackburn College, Harrison Centre, Feilden Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 1LH
1.55 miles
Islamiyah School
Willow Street, Little Harwood, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5NQ
1.56 miles
St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy
Duckworth Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 2JR
1.69 miles
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School
West Park Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 6DF
1.93 miles
Darwen Vale High School
Blackburn Road, Darwen, Lancashire, BB3 0AL
1.94 miles
Eden School
Heys Lane, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 4NW
2.26 miles
Pleckgate High School
Pleckgate Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 8QA
2.32 miles
Witton Park Academy
Buncer Lane, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 6TD
2.36 miles
The Willows
Willow Grange, Henry Street, Rishton, Lancashire, BB1 4JJ
2.43 miles
The Hyndburn Academy
Stourton Street, Rishton, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 4ED
2.47 miles
Rhyddings
Haworth Street, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 3EA
2.56 miles
Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School
Preston New Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 7AD
2.6 miles

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

How many pupils does Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy have?

Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy has 770 pupils on roll.

What age range does Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy cover?

Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 36.6, and 25% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy?

Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy is at North Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 1PY.

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