St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, BlackburnAldridge UTC Darwen
Inspection, results, pupils and attendance side by side.
Summary of the comparison
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn and Aldridge UTC Darwen are secondary schools.
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn scores 57 out of 100 (grade C, average) and Aldridge UTC Darwen scores 42 out of 100 (grade D, below average). St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn is ahead on our composite score.
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn was judged the expected standard and Aldridge UTC Darwen was judged the expected standard.
On GCSE Attainment 8, the latest published figures are 45.4 for St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn and 31.7 for Aldridge UTC Darwen.
GCSE Attainment 8 has fallen at St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn (49.2 in 2021-22, 45.4 in 2025-26) and has fallen at Aldridge UTC Darwen (33.9 in 2021-22, 31.7 in 2025-26).
Side-by-side comparison
| Measure | BlackburnSt Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn | DarwenAldridge UTC Darwen | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview | |||
| Our score | C57/100Stronger figure | D42/100 | |
| Local ranking | 5th of 12 in Blackburn with Darwen Stronger figure | 10th of 12 in Blackburn with Darwen | |
| Inspection | Ofsted: Good | Ofsted: Expected | |
| School type | Voluntary aided school | Studio schools | |
| Phase | Secondary | Secondary | |
| Age range | 11-16 | 13-19 | |
| Gender | Mixed | Mixed | |
| Pupils on roll | 1,051 | 275 | |
| Capacity | 1,050 | 300 | |
| Location | Blackburn, BB2 4SR | Darwen, BB3 1AF | |
| GCSE results | |||
| Attainment 8 | 45.4 Stronger figure | 31.7 | 46.2 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 51.9% Stronger figure | 19.4% | 46.3% |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 71.4% Stronger figure | 35.5% | 64.8% |
| Cohort | 206 | 62 | |
| A-level results | |||
| A-level entries | Not reported | 17 | |
| A-level average points | Not reported | 37.0 | 35.0 |
| A-level average grade | Not reported | B- | |
| Best 3 A-levels points | Not reported | 25.7 | 35.8 |
| AAB+ incl. facilitating subjects | Not reported | 0.0% | 17.5% |
| Pupils | |||
| Pupils in the census | 1,043 | 264 | |
| Free school meals (ever 6) | 21.0% | 47.1% | |
| English as an additional language | 7.3% | 2.3% | |
| SEN support | 10.2% | 29.9% | |
| SEN with an EHC plan | 3.1% | 6.1% | |
| Attendance | |||
| Overall absence | 7.5% Stronger figure | 18.2% | 6.2% |
| Persistent absence | 19.6% Stronger figure | 56.3% | 15.8% |
marks the stronger figure on measures with a clear direction. Rows describing a school's intake, such as free school meals, English as an additional language and SEN, carry no marker: they describe who a school serves, not how well it serves them.
Historical trends
Each solid line is one school; the dashed line is the national average.
GCSE Attainment 8
GCSE Progress 8
Overall absence
Free school meal eligibility (ever 6)
Pupils on roll
Ethnicity over time
One panel per school: the largest groups across this comparison, one colour per group, on a shared scale.
St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn
Aldridge UTC Darwen
Full profiles: St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn · Aldridge UTC Darwen