Witton Park Academy

Academy converter·Secondary school Blackburn with Darwen·BB2 6TD
Composite score
50.4
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#2,478
National rank
#322
In North West
#8
In Blackburn with Darwen
Top 78%
Nationally

Performance (KS4 GCSE)

Attainment 8 score
40.3
National avg ≈ 46
Progress 8 score
—
% achieving 9–5 in English & Maths
37%
% achieving 9–4 in English & Maths
57%
% EBacc grade 5+
8%
EBacc average points score
3.49

Getting a place

Offered a place after putting it first
100%
67 first choices, 219 places
First choices per place
0.31
fewer first choices than places
Applications naming the school
393
any preference, for 219 places
First preferences per place, last five years▼ 0.15
00.511.5
1 per place
0.4720220.3520230.4320240.4620250.312026

Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this

Every child who put Witton Park Academy first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.

Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).

School profile

Age range
11–16
Pupils on roll
1,312
Gender
Mixed
Religious character
None
Admissions
Non-Selective

Pupil background

% FSM ever-6
39.5%
Typical secondary: 27.5%
% EAL
65.5%
Typical secondary: 12.0%

Special educational needs

% SEN support
17.4%
Typical secondary: 13.7%
% with an EHC plan
1.5%
Typical secondary: 2.9%

Attendance

Overall absence
9.1%
Typical secondary: 8.9%
Persistently absent
26.8%
Typical secondary: 25.7%

Staffing & funding

Pupils per teacher
15.4
Typical secondary: 16.7
Spend per pupil
£8,202
Typical secondary: £7,815

“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means

What pupils do next

The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.

In education, training or work
87%
252 pupils tracked
Stayed in education
85%
Employment
2%

DfE, KS4 destination measures.

Nearby secondary schools

Location

About Witton Park Academy

Witton Park Academy is a secondary school in Blackburn with Darwen, classified by the DfE as a converter academy. Around 1,312 pupils aged 11 to 16 attend the school. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 40.3 — below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has risen by 4.3 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.

37% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, below the national average of about 45%. 57% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Witton Park Academy their first choice was offered one of its 219 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 87% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 9.1%. There are about 15.4 pupils per teacher. The school serves a community with above-average levels of disadvantage: about 39% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals in the last six years, compared with roughly 24% nationally — useful context when reading the results above. Witton Park Academy 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.

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