Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College
Melbourne Road, Blacon, Chester, CH1 5JH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- Blacon High School Trust
- Headteacher
- Mrs Rachel Hudson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Chester North and Neston
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 750
- Pupils on roll
- 651
- URN
- 111396
- Local authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01244371475
About this school
Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College is a foundation secondary school in Chester. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 651 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Needs attention
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Needs attention
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 126 | 127 | 133 |
| Attainment 8 score | 35.1 | 37.2 | 33.2 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.65 -0.90 to -0.40 | -0.63 -0.88 to -0.38 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 21% | 23.6% | 17.3% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 37% | 47.2% | 36.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 6% | 9.4% | 8.3% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.7 | 3.0 | 2.6 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Cheshire West and Chester average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 35.1 | 41.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 37.2 | 40.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 33.2 | 38.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 716 |
| 2023/24 | 723 |
| 2024/25 | 705 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College compares
Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College ranked 19th of 20 secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 25% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 33.2 | 14.6% | 47.4% | 651 | — |
| Chester International School | 34.5 | 15.5% | 33.1% | 229 | 2.4 miles |
| Queen's Park High School | 44.2 | 9.2% | 29.3% | 792 | 2.4 miles |
| The Catholic High School, Chester | 46.7 | 9.1% | 21.5% | 797 | 2.5 miles |
| Upton-by-Chester High School | 48.8 | 6.5% | 17.2% | 1,728 | 2.8 miles |
| The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School | 53.8 | 6.8% | 17.4% | 1,253 | 3.1 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
-
Graded inspection report12 May 2026
- 28 November 2023
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 47.38%
- English as an additional language
- 7.5%
- Overall absence
- 14.64%
- Persistent absence
- 43.17%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Chester International School2.4 miles
Secondary · Chester
-
Queen's Park High School2.4 miles
Secondary · Chester
-
The Catholic High School, Chester2.5 miles
Secondary · Chester
-
Upton-by-Chester High School2.8 miles
Secondary · Chester
-
The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School3.1 miles
Secondary · Chester
Other schools in Chester
Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College ranks 7th of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Chester.
- Chester International School Secondary
- Christleton High School Secondary
- Queen's Park High School Secondary
- The Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School Secondary
- The Catholic High School, Chester Secondary
- Upton-by-Chester High School Secondary
- Acresfield Academy Primary
- Ashton Hayes Primary School Primary
- Barrow CofE Primary School Primary
- Barrow CofE Primary School Primary
- Belgrave Primary School Primary
- Boughton Heath Academy Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College teach?
- Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Chester.
- Who is the headteacher of Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College?
- The headteacher of Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College is Mrs Rachel Hudson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College?
- Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College has 651 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College full?
- Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College has capacity for 750 pupils and 651 on roll (87%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College a faith school?
- No. Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College has no designated religious character.
- Is Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College a selective school?
- No. Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College part of an academy trust?
- Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College is part of Blacon High School Trust. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 35.1 in 2022/23 and 33.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College compare with other schools in Cheshire West and Chester?
- Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College ranked 19th of 20 secondary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 25% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 2% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College's absence rate?
- Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College's overall absence rate is 14.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Blacon High School, A Specialist Sports College's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 15 July 2026.