Pendle Vale College

School overview

Pendle Vale College is a secondary school serving Nelson, Lancashire, classified by the DfE as a community school. It has 1,042 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 42.5 — below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has risen by 1.0 points year on year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.

32% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 54% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Pendle Vale College is oversubscribed: about 9 in 10 of the families who made it their first choice were offered a Year 7 place for September 2026, with 220 first choices for 207 places. After Year 11, 92% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 8.3%. There are about 15.7 pupils per teacher. Pendle Vale College does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.