Darwen Aldridge Community Academy

State-Funded School

darwen-aldridge-community-academy-blackburn-with-darwen-north-west

North WestRegion

Blackburn with DarwenLocal Authority

Rossendale and DarwenConstituency

BB3 3HDPostcode

1.6

Academic Performance

Ofsted

No overall grade

About the School

Darwen Aldridge Community Academy is a state-funded secondary for pupils aged 11–19, located in Blackburn with Darwen, North West.

It currently serves 1,036 pupils. Darwen Aldridge Community Academy is part of Aldridge Education.

Ofsted Rating

Safeguarding effective

Yes

Rating last maintained

2025

Subject Areas

Leadership &management

Good

Quality ofeducation

Requires improvement

Personaldevelopment

Good

Behaviour &attitudes

Good

Sixth formprovision

Good

Academic Performance

Well below average

Ranked against secondary schools in England · 2024-25

Attainment 8: 36.5
Grade 5+ in English & maths: 23.6%
EBacc average point score: 3.01

Ethnicity

White

72%

Asian

11%

Black

Mixed

Chinese

Any other group

Unclassified

Pupils

1,036

Total Pupils

55%Boys

45%Girls

Pupil Characteristics

Free school meals

32%

England average

27%

First language not English

17%

England average

22%

Young carers

England average

0%25%50%75%100%

DfE school census, January 2026.

Key Information

Phase: Secondary
Age range: 11 – 19
Deprivation band: Deprived
Total pupils: 1,036
IDACI quintile: 4 (Less deprived)
MAT name: Aldridge Education

Inspection history

3 graded inspections published by Ofsted. Ungraded and monitoring visits are not shown.

Report published					Overall
9 Jul 2025	Good	Requires improvement	Good	Good	Not judged
7 Feb 2023	Requires improvement	Requires improvement	Good	Requires improvement	Requires improvement
8 Feb 2013	Good	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Good

A grey dot means Ofsted did not report that judgement in the inspection of the day — the sub-judgements shown here were introduced with the 2019 framework.

Ofsted data as at 31 December 2024. A school may have been inspected since, or had an ungraded visit that does not change its grade — check Ofsted’s own record.