Aldridge UTC Darwen
Police Street, Darwen, BB3 1AF
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Studio schools
- Ages
- 13 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- ALDRIDGE EDUCATION
- Headteacher
- Miss Julie Green
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Aldridge Education
- Constituency
- Rossendale and Darwen
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 300
- Pupils on roll
- 275
- URN
- 139924
- Local authority
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01254819567
About this school
Aldridge UTC Darwen is a secondary school in Darwen. It teaches children aged 13 to 19 and has 275 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
- Expected standard
- Achievement
- Expected standard
- 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 | 52 | 69 | 69 |
| Attainment 8 score | 35.5 | 36.4 | 34.7 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.90 -1.30 to -0.50 | -0.82 -1.17 to -0.48 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 25% | 21.7% | 27.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 46% | 49.3% | 49.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
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 Aldridge UTC Darwen 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 | 35.5 | 43.5 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.4 | 43.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 34.7 | 44.5 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 18.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 266 |
| 2023/24 | 268 |
| 2024/25 | 264 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Aldridge UTC Darwen compares
Aldridge UTC Darwen ranked 12th of 12 secondary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 26% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 1% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 34.7 | 18.2% | 47.1% | 275 | — |
| Darwen Aldridge Community Academy | 36.5 | 11.1% | 36.8% | 1,036 | 0.4 miles |
| Darwen Vale High School | 43.1 | 10.2% | 33.2% | 1,039 | 1.3 miles |
| St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn | 47.4 | 7.5% | 21% | 1,051 | 2.8 miles |
| Blackburn Central High School | 41 | 8% | 41% | 1,015 | 2.9 miles |
| Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy | 37.2 | 13.8% | 47.7% | 770 | 3.2 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)
- 47.06%
- English as an additional language
- 2.3%
- Overall absence
- 18.2%
- Persistent absence
- 56.34%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Darwen Aldridge Community Academy0.4 miles
Secondary · Darwen
-
Darwen Vale High School1.3 miles
Secondary · Darwen
-
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn2.8 miles
Secondary · Blackburn
-
Blackburn Central High School2.9 miles
Secondary · Blackburn
-
Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy3.2 miles
Secondary · Blackburn
Other schools in Darwen
- Darwen Aldridge Community Academy Secondary
- Darwen Vale High School Secondary
- Turncroft Nursery School Nursery
- Ashleigh Primary School Primary
- Avondale Primary School Primary
- Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary Primary
- Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Darwen St Peter's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Darwen, St Barnabas CofE Primary Academy Primary
- Hoddlesden St Paul's Church of England Primary School Primary
- Holy Trinity VC School Primary
- Lower Darwen Primary School Primary
Recorded changes at this school
- School name changed from Aldridge Utc Darwen to Aldridge UTC Darwen recorded 8 Oct 2026
- School name changed from Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio to Aldridge Utc Darwen recorded 30 Sep 2026
Common questions
- What year groups does Aldridge UTC Darwen teach?
- Aldridge UTC Darwen teaches children aged 13 to 19. It is a secondary school in Darwen.
- Who is the headteacher of Aldridge UTC Darwen?
- The headteacher of Aldridge UTC Darwen is Miss Julie Green, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Aldridge UTC Darwen last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Aldridge UTC Darwen, 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 Aldridge UTC Darwen?
- Aldridge UTC Darwen has 275 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 13 to 19.
- Is Aldridge UTC Darwen full?
- Aldridge UTC Darwen has capacity for 300 pupils and 275 on roll (92%), so it has space against 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 Aldridge UTC Darwen a faith school?
- No. Aldridge UTC Darwen has no designated religious character.
- Is Aldridge UTC Darwen a selective school?
- No. Aldridge UTC Darwen is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Aldridge UTC Darwen?
- Aldridge UTC Darwen is part of ALDRIDGE EDUCATION. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Aldridge UTC Darwen's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 35.5 in 2022/23 and 34.7 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Aldridge UTC Darwen rank locally?
- Aldridge UTC Darwen ranked 12th of 12 secondary schools in Blackburn with Darwen for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 26% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 1% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Aldridge UTC Darwen's absence rate?
- Aldridge UTC Darwen's overall absence rate is 18.2% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Aldridge UTC Darwen's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Aldridge UTC Darwen'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 8 October 2026.