Blackburn Central High School
Academy converter · 1,015 pupils
81% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.0
Academy sponsor led
Pleckgate High School
- Pupils on roll
- 1,339of 1,350 places
- Free school meals
- 24.1%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 274
- Ofsted
- Outstanding, 5 June 2024Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Pleckgate High School Mathematics and Computing College (URN 119715, until 7 May 2015).
What the data says
Pleckgate High School has no sixth form. Of the 248 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 23% moved to a sixth form college, 48% to a further education college and 3% started an apprenticeship.
Religious Studies is unusually popular at GCSE: 97% of the year group took it, against 31% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 49.2 against 46.1 across England and 45.4 in Blackburn with Darwen, with 47% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
As an 11–16 school, Pleckgate High School is judged on where pupils go at 16 rather than on A level results.
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Blackburn with Darwen and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Pleckgate High School | Blackburn with Darwen | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 248 | 2,152 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 90% | 88% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 85% | 83% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 11% | 17% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 23% | 12% | 13% |
| — further education college | 48% | 52% | 37% |
| — other education | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Employment | 3% | 2% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 7% | 9% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 2% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Pleckgate High School | Blackburn with Darwen | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 49.2 | 45.4 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 47% | 44% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 71% | 63% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 44% | 39% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.26 | 3.98 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 25% | 30% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 45.1 | 35.5 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 50.5 | 49.7 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 14% | 29% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 274 | 100% | 89% | 20% | 20% | 77% |
| Mathematics | 274 | 100% | 88% | 25% | 22% | 73% |
| English Literature | 273 | 100% | 86% | 24% | 21% | 84% |
| Religious Studies | 267 | 97% | 31% | 27% | 32% | 79% |
| Combined Science | 188 | 69% | 65% | 5% | 9% | 52% |
| Geography | 145 | 53% | 41% | 12% | 25% | 49% |
| History | 123 | 45% | 41% | 25% | 26% | 67% |
| French | 115 | 42% | 18% | 7% | 29% | 63% |
| Chemistry | 84 | 31% | 23% | 48% | 47% | 93% |
| Business Studies | 84 | 31% | 18% | 18% | 20% | 69% |
| Biology | 84 | 31% | 23% | 45% | 45% | 93% |
| Physics | 84 | 31% | 23% | 37% | 46% | 94% |
| Design and Technology | 22 | 8% | 11% | 9% | 23% | 32% |
| Art and Design | 22 | 8% | 7% | 14% | 24% | 77% |
| Physical Education | 20 | 7% | 11% | 0% | 24% | 45% |
| Computer Science | 20 | 7% | 13% | 5% | 30% | 70% |
| Statistics | 14 | 5% | 5% | 36% | 20% | 86% |
| Arabic | 7 | 3% | 1% | 86% | 47% | 86% |
| Citizenship Studies | 5 | 2% | 3% | — | 19% | — |
| Urdu | 2 | 1% | 1% | — | 42% | — |
| Italian | 1 | 0% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Spanish | 1 | 0% | 19% | — | 27% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Studies | 52 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 48 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 23 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 16 | — | — |
| Music performance: Group | 8 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Blackburn with Darwen
Darwen Aldridge Community Academy
Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,036 pupils
80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 36.5
Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio
Studio schools · sixth form · 275 pupils
87% stayed in education · Attainment 8 34.7
Darwen Vale High School
Academy sponsor led · 1,039 pupils
75% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.1
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School
Free schools · sixth form · 873 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.0
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn
Voluntary aided school · 1,051 pupils
75% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.4
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.