Pendle Vale College
Oxford Road, Nelson, BB9 8LF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Head Teacher
- Mr Oliver Handley
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Pendle and Clitheroe
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 1,046
- URN
- 134989
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01282682240
About this school
Pendle Vale College is a community secondary school in Nelson. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,046 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. 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
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- 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 | 213 | 214 | 205 |
| Attainment 8 score | 40.1 | 41.5 | 42.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.03 -0.16 to +0.23 | +0.07 -0.13 to +0.26 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 26% | 32.2% | 32.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 49% | 57.9% | 54.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 42% | 52.3% | 48.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
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 Pendle Vale 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 | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 40.1 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 41.5 | 37.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 42.5 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 10.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,064 |
| 2023/24 | 1,055 |
| 2024/25 | 1,042 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Pendle Vale College compares
Pendle Vale College ranked 50th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 47% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42.5 | 8.2% | 34.4% | 1,046 | — |
| Ss John Fisher and Thomas More Roman Catholic High School | 44.1 | 10.3% | 32.3% | 812 | 0.4 miles |
| Colne Primet Academy | 35.4 | 13.2% | 37.9% | 805 | 0.5 miles |
| Marsden Heights Community College | 40.3 | 7.9% | 33.5% | 1,047 | 1.6 miles |
| Colne Park High School | 38 | 10.5% | 31.4% | 989 | 2.2 miles |
| Sir John Thursby Community College | 41 | 8.4% | 39.6% | 1,121 | 2.9 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)
- 34.36%
- English as an additional language
- 32.4%
- Overall absence
- 8.21%
- Persistent absence
- 25.51%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ss John Fisher and Thomas More Roman Catholic High School0.4 miles
Secondary · Colne
-
Colne Primet Academy0.5 miles
Secondary · Colne
-
Marsden Heights Community College1.6 miles
Secondary · Nelson
-
Colne Park High School2.2 miles
Secondary · Colne
-
Sir John Thursby Community College2.9 miles
Secondary · Burnley
Other schools in Nelson
- Marsden Heights Community College Secondary
- Bradley Nursery School Nursery
- McMillan Nursery School Nursery
- Walton Lane Nursery School Nursery
- Woodfield Nursery School Nursery
- Barrowford School Primary
- Barrowford St Thomas Church of England Primary School Primary
- Blacko Primary School Primary
- Bradley Primary School Primary
- Castercliff Primary School Primary
- Great Marsden St John's Primary School A Church of England Academy Primary
- Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School, Nelson Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Pendle Vale College teach?
- Pendle Vale College teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Nelson.
- Who is the head teacher of Pendle Vale College?
- The head teacher of Pendle Vale College is Mr Oliver Handley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Pendle Vale College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Pendle Vale 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 big is Pendle Vale College?
- Pendle Vale College has 1,046 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Pendle Vale College full?
- Pendle Vale College has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 1,046 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 Pendle Vale College a faith school?
- No. Pendle Vale College has no designated religious character.
- Is Pendle Vale College a selective school?
- No. Pendle Vale College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Pendle Vale College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 40.1 in 2022/23 and 42.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Pendle Vale College rank locally?
- Pendle Vale College ranked 50th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 47% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 15% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Pendle Vale College's absence rate?
- Pendle Vale College's overall absence rate is 8.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Pendle Vale College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Pendle Vale 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 1 July 2026.