Alder Grange School
Calder Road, Rawtenstall, Rossendale, BB4 8HW
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mrs Joanna Griffiths
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Rossendale and Darwen
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 902
- Pupils on roll
- 899
- URN
- 119722
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01706223171
About this school
Alder Grange School is a community secondary school in Rossendale. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 899 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Post-16 provision
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 145 | 139 | 138 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.2 | 40.3 | 37.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.41 -0.64 to -0.18 | -0.32 -0.56 to -0.08 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 40% | 31.7% | 25.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 61.9% | 50% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 1% | 5.8% | 8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.0 |
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 Alder Grange School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 42.2 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.3 | 37.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 37 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 843 |
| 2023/24 | 855 |
| 2024/25 | 902 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Alder Grange School compares
Alder Grange School ranked 71st of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 31% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37 | 7.5% | 24.3% | 899 | — |
| All Saints' Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy | 35.3 | 11.7% | 34.3% | 504 | 1.2 miles |
| Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School | 73.3 | 4.6% | 7.9% | 1,087 | 1.8 miles |
| The Valley Leadership Academy | 32.6 | 15.4% | 46.9% | 578 | 2.0 miles |
| Haslingden High School and Sixth Form | 44.2 | 7.9% | 22.4% | 1,540 | 2.0 miles |
| The Hollins | 40.7 | 7.8% | 33.8% | 794 | 3.6 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
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 24.29%
- English as an additional language
- 5.1%
- Overall absence
- 7.5%
- Persistent absence
- 20.5%
Location
Nearby schools
-
All Saints' Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy1.2 miles
Secondary · Rossendale
-
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School1.8 miles
Secondary · Rossendale
-
The Valley Leadership Academy2.0 miles
Secondary · Bacup
-
Haslingden High School and Sixth Form2.0 miles
Secondary · Rossendale
-
The Hollins3.6 miles
Secondary · Accrington
Other schools in Rossendale
- All Saints' Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School Secondary
- Haslingden High School and Sixth Form Secondary
- Hillside Nursery School Nursery
- Staghills Nursery School Nursery
- Crawshawbooth Primary School Primary
- Haslingden Broadway Primary School Primary
- Haslingden Primary School Primary
- Helmshore Primary School Primary
- Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School Primary
- Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School Primary
- St Anne's Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Alder Grange School teach?
- Alder Grange School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Rossendale.
- Who is the headteacher of Alder Grange School?
- The headteacher of Alder Grange School is Mrs Joanna Griffiths, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Alder Grange School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Alder Grange School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Alder Grange School?
- Alder Grange School has 899 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Alder Grange School full?
- Alder Grange School has capacity for 902 pupils and 899 on roll (100%), so it is at or above 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 Alder Grange School a faith school?
- No. Alder Grange School has no designated religious character.
- Is Alder Grange School a selective school?
- No. Alder Grange School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Alder Grange School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42.2 in 2022/23 and 37 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Alder Grange School rank locally?
- Alder Grange School ranked 71st of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 31% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Alder Grange School's absence rate?
- Alder Grange School's overall absence rate is 7.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Alder Grange School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Alder Grange School'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.