Academy sponsor led

Marsden Heights Community College

Mixed · ages 11–16 · no sixth formLancashire, North West · Nelson BB9 0PRTrust: United Learning TrustSchool website
Pupils on roll
1,047of 1,050 places
Free school meals
35.4%
Year 11 cohort 2025
210
Ofsted
Good, 3 October 2023Read the Ofsted report

Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: Marsden Heights Community College (URN 134990, until 31 August 2018).

What the data says

Marsden Heights Community College has no sixth form. Of the 208 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 88% to a further education college and 1% started an apprenticeship.

Photography is unusually popular at GCSE: 34% of the year group took it, against 6% of pupils across England.

GCSE results in 2025 were below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 40.3 against 46.1 across England and 45.1 in Lancashire, with 33% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).

Almost nobody goes straight into an apprenticeship or a job: 1% took an apprenticeship and went into work, against 3% and 3% across England.

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 Lancashire and England.

This school
Lancashire
England
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureThis schoolLancashireEngland
Pupils in the cohort20813,296607,348
Any sustained destination90%90%92%
Stayed in education88%81%86%
— school sixth form0%12%34%
— sixth form college0%20%13%
— further education college88%48%37%
— other education0%2%2%
Apprenticeship1%5%3%
Employment4%3%
No sustained destination6%7%6%
Destination unknown4%2%3%

GCSE results 2025

MeasureThis schoolLancashireEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)40.345.146.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths33%44%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths54%64%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects16%34%41%
EBacc average point score3.353.954.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort34%26%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils36.232.734.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils42.449.350.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language93%12%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.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
English Language209100%89%6%20%54%
English Literature20899%86%8%21%62%
Mathematics20899%88%10%22%65%
Religious Studies20497%31%4%32%46%
Combined Science15473%65%1%9%36%
Spanish9143%19%14%27%56%
History7837%41%8%26%28%
Photography7134%6%1%19%72%
Biology5325%23%25%45%91%
Chemistry5325%23%25%47%89%
Physics5325%23%28%46%89%
Sociology4923%4%12%21%43%
Design and Technology4823%11%2%23%52%
Art and Design4320%7%9%24%53%
Geography3919%41%5%25%33%
Food Preparation and Nutrition2110%8%0%21%24%
Computer Science199%13%0%30%47%
Media Studies157%4%0%20%53%
Italian94%0%33%53%100%
Urdu42%1%42%
Arabic10%1%47%
Citizenship Studies10%3%19%

Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Multimedia26
Computer Appreciation / Introduction14
Personal Health14
Health Studies13

Other secondary schools in Lancashire

Academy@Worden

Academy converter · 660 pupils

74% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.2

Accrington Academy

Academy sponsor led · 953 pupils

79% stayed in education · Attainment 8 39.4

Albany Academy

Academy converter · 725 pupils

76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 43.7

Alder Grange School

Community school · sixth form · 899 pupils

82% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.0

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.