Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy
Highfield Road, Croston, Leyland, PR26 9HH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- BISHOP RAWSTORNE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Paul Cowley
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Blackburn
- Constituency
- South Ribble
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 930
- Pupils on roll
- 958
- URN
- 137296
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01772600349
About this school
Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy is a Church of England secondary academy in Leyland. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 958 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
- Strong standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Strong standard
- Achievement
- Strong 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 | 187 | 195 | 192 |
| Attainment 8 score | 57.5 | 58.2 | 59.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.57 +0.37 to +0.78 | +0.53 +0.33 to +0.73 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 64% | 74.9% | 71.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 86% | 91.3% | 87.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 67% | 65.1% | 67.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.5 |
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 Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy 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 | 57.5 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 58.2 | 37.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 59.3 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.4% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 962 |
| 2023/24 | 971 |
| 2024/25 | 963 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy compares
Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy ranked 6th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 92% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 61% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 59.3 | 4.9% | 8.6% | 958 | — |
| St Mary's Catholic High School | 45 | 7.2% | 21.3% | 813 | 2.9 miles |
| Tarleton Academy | 46.3 | 9.5% | 18.2% | 674 | 3.1 miles |
| Academy@Worden | 43.2 | 6.9% | 33.7% | 660 | 3.1 miles |
| Wellfield Academy | 37.7 | 10.7% | 36.8% | 562 | 3.6 miles |
| Balshaw's Church of England High School | 52.3 | 5.1% | 13.6% | 921 | 3.8 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 report6 January 2026
- 16 November 2021
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 8.62%
- English as an additional language
- 0.7%
- Overall absence
- 4.93%
- Persistent absence
- 10.37%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Mary's Catholic High School2.9 miles
Secondary · Leyland
-
Tarleton Academy3.1 miles
Secondary · Preston
-
Academy@Worden3.1 miles
Secondary · Leyland
-
Wellfield Academy3.6 miles
Secondary · Leyland
-
Balshaw's Church of England High School3.8 miles
Secondary · Leyland
Other schools in Leyland
Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy ranks 1st of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Leyland.
- Academy@Worden Secondary
- Balshaw's Church of England High School Secondary
- St Mary's Catholic High School Secondary
- Wellfield Academy Secondary
- Bretherton Endowed Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Farington Moss St. Paul's C.E. Primary School Primary
- Farington Primary School Primary
- Lancaster Lane Primary and Pre-School Primary
- Lever House Primary School Primary
- Leyland Methodist Infant School Primary
- Leyland Methodist Junior School Primary
- Leyland St James Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy teach?
- Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Leyland.
- Who is the headteacher of Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy?
- The headteacher of Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy is Mr Paul Cowley, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy, 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 Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy?
- Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy has 958 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy full?
- Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy has capacity for 930 pupils and 958 on roll (103%), 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 Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy a faith school?
- Yes. Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Blackburn.
- Is Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy a selective school?
- No. Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy?
- Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy is part of BISHOP RAWSTORNE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 57.5 in 2022/23 and 59.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy rank locally?
- Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy ranked 6th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 92% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 61% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy's absence rate?
- Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy's overall absence rate is 4.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy'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.