Unity College
Townley Holmes, Burnley, BB11 3DF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Head Teacher
- Ms Jane Richardson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Constituency
- Burnley
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,480
- Pupils on roll
- 1,402
- URN
- 135003
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01282683010
About this school
Unity College is a foundation secondary school in Burnley. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 1,402 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
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Requires improvement
- Personal development
- Requires improvement
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 228 | 263 | 276 |
| Attainment 8 score | 39.6 | 39.8 | 40.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.30 -0.48 to -0.11 | -0.21 -0.39 to -0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 29% | 34.2% | 34.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 46% | 49.4% | 53.6% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 45% | 38.8% | 26.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
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 Unity 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 | 39.6 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.8 | 37.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 40.3 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 12.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 13.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 13% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,380 |
| 2023/24 | 1,434 |
| 2024/25 | 1,416 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Unity College compares
Unity College ranked 58th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 39% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 40.3 | 13% | 34.8% | 1,402 | — |
| Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy | 37.6 | 10.2% | 35.8% | 1,261 | 0.8 miles |
| Sir John Thursby Community College | 41 | 8.4% | 39.6% | 1,121 | 1.4 miles |
| Burnley High School | 38.6 | 8% | 40.4% | 579 | 3.1 miles |
| Marsden Heights Community College | 40.3 | 7.9% | 33.5% | 1,047 | 3.1 miles |
| Shuttleworth College | 39.5 | 12.2% | 46.4% | 1,072 | 3.3 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)
- 34.82%
- English as an additional language
- 8.5%
- Overall absence
- 13.01%
- Persistent absence
- 35.83%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy0.8 miles
Secondary · Burnley
-
Sir John Thursby Community College1.4 miles
Secondary · Burnley
-
Burnley High School3.1 miles
Secondary · Burnley
-
Marsden Heights Community College3.1 miles
Secondary · Nelson
-
Shuttleworth College3.3 miles
Secondary · Burnley
Other schools in Burnley
Unity College ranks 2nd of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Burnley.
- Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy Secondary
- Burnley High School Secondary
- Shuttleworth College Secondary
- Sir John Thursby Community College Secondary
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- Ightenhill Nursery School Nursery
- Reedley Hallows Nursery School Nursery
- Rockwood Nursery School Nursery
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Common questions
- What year groups does Unity College teach?
- Unity College teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Burnley.
- Who is the head teacher of Unity College?
- The head teacher of Unity College is Ms Jane Richardson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Unity College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Unity 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 Unity College?
- Unity College has 1,402 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Unity College full?
- Unity College has capacity for 1,480 pupils and 1,402 on roll (95%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Unity College a faith school?
- No. Unity College has no designated religious character.
- Is Unity College a selective school?
- No. Unity College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Unity College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 39.6 in 2022/23 and 40.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Unity College rank locally?
- Unity College ranked 58th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 39% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 3% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Unity College's absence rate?
- Unity College's overall absence rate is 13% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Unity College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Unity 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.