SchoolFacts

Pendle Vale College

Secondary · Nelson · BB9 8LF

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Expected standard

Report-card inspection (current system, from November 2025)

The headline grade shown is the Achievement area of the school's report card.

Safeguarding: MetCurriculum & teaching: Expected standardAchievement: Expected standardAttendance & behaviour: Expected standardPersonal development: Expected standardInclusion: Expected standardLeadership & governance: Expected standardEarly years: Not applicablePost-16: Not applicable

Inspected 10 February 2026 · report published 19 April 2026

Read the Ofsted report ↗

At a glance

1,046 pupils · 100% of 1,050 capacity

School type
Community school
Age range
11–16
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Free school meals
37.6% of pupils
English as additional language
32.4% of pupils
SEN support
10.3% of pupils
EHC plan
4% of pupils
Website
http://www.pendlevale.lancs.sch.uk/
URN
134989

Admissions demand: Year 7 entry, September 2026

1.06 first-choice applications per place

207 places offered · 220 first-choice applications · oversubscribed

First-choice applications per place, by entry year

19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27

Applications and offers on national offer day, DfE. A ratio above 1.00 means more families named this school first choice than there were places.

GCSE results (2024/2025)

205 pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2024/2025

Attainment 8 score
42.5
England 46.1
Grade 4 or above in English & maths GCSEs
54.1%
England 64.8%
Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs
32.2%
England 45.4%
EBacc average point score
3.7
England 4.1

Progress 8 is suspended nationally for 2024/25 and 2025/26. These cohorts sat no key stage 2 tests (COVID), so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

Source: DfE performance tables 2024/2025. “Suppressed” means the DfE withholds figures for very small cohorts.

Attendance (2025/26 autumn term)

Sessions missed (overall absence)
6.2%
England 6.5%
Pupils missing 10%+ of sessions (persistent absence)
16.9%
England 18.1%

Autumn-term absence, DfE pupil absence data. Lower is better.

Staffing

Pupils per qualified teacher
15.7
England 18.5

Full-time-equivalent, 2025/26.

Teacher retention (2024/25)

94% of teachers stayed at the school the following year · 6% left the state-funded sector

School Workforce Census, DfE. The ratio counts full-time-equivalent qualified teachers; retention follows teachers in post one November to the next. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Spending per pupil

This school£9,724
Typical secondary school£7,799

Total expenditure ÷ pupils, council-maintained school finance return (DfE Schools Financial Benchmarking, latest year). Higher spending is not a measure of quality. It often reflects greater pupil need or a smaller school. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Where pupils go after GCSEs

In sustained education, work or training
92%
Continuing in education
91%
Apprenticeship
1%
Employment
1%

Destinations measured the year after leaving, latest DfE destination measures release.

Inspection history since 2015

Ofsted management information. Ungraded and monitoring visits do not award a new grade. How the two inspection systems work.

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