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State secondary schools in Lancashire

81 schools · North West · 2024/25 Department for Education figures

Lancashire has 81 state secondaries, 14 of them with sixth forms, 4 grammar schools among them. 87.1% of families got their first choice last year, better than most of England. Results run from 18.8% to 98.8% passing English and maths, a spread of 80 points, with a middle school at 41.1%, below England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 7 rated Outstanding, 36 Good, 15 Requires improvement, 2 Inadequate. 21 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

Blackpool
81 schools in Lancashire. Tap one, or see the full list. Blackpool is a separate council, marked on the map.
19% 99% passed English & maths

Lancashire against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

44%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

1.9% below England

England 45%

45.1

Attainment 8 average score

in line with England

England 46.1

19%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

2% below England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Lancashire

87.1%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

97.2%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

0.3%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

25%

Appeals upheld166 of 667 heard

These are figures for Lancashire as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works

How much the choice matters here

Across Lancashire's 81 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 19% to 99%. That is a spread of 80 percentage points, wider than most councils.

The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.

Lancashire schools, subject by subject

The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.

mathsenglish literatureenglish languagegeographyhistorycombined sciencebiologyphysicschemistryartreligious studiesdesign technologyspanishcomputer sciencefrenchphysical educationfood technologybusiness studies
  1. 1 Our Lady's Catholic High School Preston · 20 entries 100%
  2. 2 Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School Rossendale · 35 entries 100%
  3. 3 Lancaster Royal Grammar School Lancaster · 25 entries 100%
  4. 4 Lancaster Girls' Grammar School Lancaster · 22 entries 100%
  5. 5 Clitheroe Royal Grammar School Clitheroe · 38 entries 100%
  6. 6 St Mary's Catholic High School Leyland · 24 entries 96%
  7. 7 St Michael's Church of England High School Chorley · 30 entries 93%
  8. 8 All Saints' Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy Rossendale · 25 entries 92%
  9. 9 Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy Lancaster · 44 entries 91%
  10. 10 All Hallows Catholic High School Preston · 28 entries 89%
  11. 11 Longridge High School Preston · 37 entries 89%
  12. 12 Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy Leyland · 26 entries 88%
  13. 13 St Augustine's Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy Clitheroe · 32 entries 84%
  14. 14 Ss John Fisher and Thomas More Roman Catholic High School Colne · 47 entries 83%
  15. 15 Corpus Christi Catholic High School Preston · 39 entries 82%
  16. 16 Archbishop Temple Church of England High School Preston · 45 entries 80%
  17. 17 Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School Accrington · 30 entries 80%
  18. 18 Colne Park High School Colne · 20 entries 75%
  19. 19 Balshaw's Church of England High School Leyland · 62 entries 74%
  20. 20 Unity College Burnley · 94 entries 73%
  21. 21 St Cecilia's RC High School Preston · 30 entries 73%
  22. 22 Millfield Science & Performing Arts College Thornton-Cleveleys · 30 entries 73%
  23. 23 Lytham St Annes High School Lytham St. Annes · 63 entries 73%
  24. 24 Holy Cross Catholic High School Chorley · 48 entries 69%
  25. 25 Albany Academy Chorley · 57 entries 61%
  26. 26 Parklands High School Chorley · 38 entries 55%
  27. 27 Lathom High School : A Technology College Skelmersdale · 46 entries 54%
  28. 28 Carr Hill High School Preston · 24 entries 54%
  29. 29 Burscough Priory Academy Ormskirk · 40 entries 53%
  30. 30 Ormskirk School Ormskirk · 32 entries 50%
  31. 31 Wellfield Academy Leyland · 26 entries 50%
  32. 32 Marsden Heights Community College Nelson · 21 entries 24%
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Every school in Lancashire

Blackpool sits inside Lancashire but runs its own admissions as a separate local authority, so its schools are not in this list.

9 of 81 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.

Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25

A levels in Lancashire

13 of Lancashire's 14 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.

Sixth form Grade AAB+

A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.

Bordering Lancashire

Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.

Blackburn with Darwen 12 schools · 44% passed English & mathsBlackpool 8 schools · 30% passed English & mathsBolton 20 schools · 44% passed English & mathsBradford 35 schools · 38% passed English & mathsBury 14 schools · 39% passed English & mathsCalderdale 13 schools · 51% passed English & mathsKnowsley 6 schools · 25% passed English & mathsNorth Yorkshire 41 schools · 47% passed English & mathsRochdale 13 schools · 35% passed English & mathsSefton 18 schools · 40% passed English & mathsSt. Helens 9 schools · 36% passed English & mathsWestmorland and Furness 20 schools · 42% passed English & mathsWigan 19 schools · 39% passed English & maths

What these mean

Attainment 8
The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
Grades 4 and 5
GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
Persistent absence
The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
First preference
The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
Spare places
The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
Average A-level grade
The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
Covers state-funded schools in England; independent schools are not included, and neither the list nor the subject figures above take account of them.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Key stage 4 performance and school characteristics: Department for Education, 2024/25. Inspection outcomes: Ofsted.