St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn
Green Lane, Blackburn, BB2 4SR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mr Daniel Milton
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Salford
- Constituency
- Blackburn
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,051
- URN
- 119793
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01254202519
About this school
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Blackburn. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,051 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn, and its latest judgement is set out 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 did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 207 | 216 | 202 |
| Attainment 8 score | 46.5 | 44.1 | 47.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.12 -0.31 to +0.08 | -0.25 -0.44 to -0.06 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 47% | 41.7% | 53.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 73% | 64.4% | 73.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 57% | 52.8% | 44.1% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.3 |
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 St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Blackburn with Darwen average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 46.5 | 43.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 44.1 | 43.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 47.4 | 44.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,057 |
| 2023/24 | 1,061 |
| 2024/25 | 1,043 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn compares
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn ranked 5th of 12 secondary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 67% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47.4 | 7.5% | 21% | 1,051 | — |
| Witton Park Academy | 40.3 | 9.2% | 39.5% | 1,243 | 1.1 miles |
| St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy | 50.8 | 7.1% | 23.8% | 1,483 | 1.4 miles |
| Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School | 62.5 | 2.5% | 17.3% | 746 | 1.5 miles |
| Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School | 72.3 | 3% | 14% | 866 | 1.9 miles |
| Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School | 47 | 8% | 20.8% | 873 | 2.0 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.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 21%
- English as an additional language
- 7.3%
- Overall absence
- 7.46%
- Persistent absence
- 19.59%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Witton Park Academy1.1 miles
Secondary · Blackburn
-
St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy1.4 miles
Secondary · Blackburn
-
Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School1.5 miles
Secondary · Blackburn
-
Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School1.9 miles
Secondary · Blackburn
-
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School2.0 miles
Secondary · Blackburn
Other schools in Blackburn
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn ranks 5th of the 10 ranked secondary schools in Blackburn.
- Blackburn Central High School Secondary
- Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Pleckgate High School Secondary
- Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Secondary
- St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy Secondary
- Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School Secondary
- Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School Secondary
- The Hyndburn Academy Secondary
- Witton Park Academy Secondary
- Ashworth Nursery School Nursery
- Brunel Nursery School Nursery
- Longshaw Nursery School Nursery
Common questions
- What ages does St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn teach?
- St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Blackburn.
- Who is the headteacher of St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn?
- The headteacher of St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn is Mr Daniel Milton, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn, 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 St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn?
- St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn has 1,051 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn full?
- St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,051 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 St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn a faith school?
- Yes. St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Salford.
- Is St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn a selective school?
- No. St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 46.5 in 2022/23 and 47.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn compare with other schools in Blackburn with Darwen?
- St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn ranked 5th of 12 secondary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 67% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 21% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn's absence rate?
- St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn's overall absence rate is 7.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn'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 30 June 2026.