Burnley High School is a mixed secondary free school in Burnley, Lancashire County Council, teaching 579 pupils aged 11 to 16. Ofsted graded achievement as Expected standard at its most recent inspection in May 2026. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 38.6 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 1 September 2025 to 20 July 2026.

Ofsted inspection

The latest published Ofsted judgement for Burnley High School.

Latest inspection
2025 framework Graded by evaluation area
AchievementExpected standard
Curriculum & teachingExpected standard
Attendance & behaviourStrong standard
Personal development & wellbeingExpected standard
InclusionExpected standard
Leadership & governanceExpected standard
Safeguarding Met
S5 Inspection · Inspected 6 May 2026 · Published 22 Jun 2026
Read full Ofsted report ↗

Scale: Exceptional Strong standard Expected standard Needs attention Urgent improvement

Term dates & holidays 2025–2026

Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Burnley High School.

Burnley High School term dates calendar 2025–2026
Official term-dates calendar · 2025–2026 · source

Interactive Calendar

September 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1 Start of Autumn Term
  • 1 INSET Day
October 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 27–31 Autumn Half Term Break
November 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
December 2025
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 19 End of Autumn Term
  • 22–31 Christmas Holiday
  • 25 Christmas Day
  • 26 Boxing Day
January 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–2 Christmas Holiday
  • 1 New Year's Day
  • 5 Start of Spring Term
  • 5 INSET Day
February 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
  • 16–20 Spring Half Term Break
March 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 27 End of Spring Term
  • 30–31 Easter Holiday
April 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
  • 1–10 Easter Holiday
  • 3 Good Friday
  • 6 Easter Monday
  • 13 Start of Summer Term
  • 13 INSET Day
May 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 4 Early May Bank Holiday
  • 25–29 Summer Half Term Break
  • 25 Spring Bank Holiday
June 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
July 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 17 INSET Day
  • 20 End of Summer Term
  • 20 INSET Day
  • 21–31 Summer Holiday
August 2026
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
  • 1–31 Summer Holiday
  • 31 Summer Bank Holiday

Key dates (2025–2026)

  • Start of Autumn Term Sep 1, 2025 Term
  • Autumn Half Term Break Oct 27-31, 2025 Holiday
  • End of Autumn Term Dec 19, 2025 Term
  • Christmas Holiday Dec 22, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026 Holiday
  • Start of Spring Term Jan 5, 2026 Term
  • Spring Half Term Break Feb 16-20, 2026 Holiday
  • End of Spring Term Mar 27, 2026 Term
  • Easter Holiday Mar 30 - Apr 10, 2026 Holiday
  • Start of Summer Term Apr 13, 2026 Term
  • Summer Half Term Break May 25-29, 2026 Holiday
  • End of Summer Term Jul 20, 2026 Term
  • Summer Holiday Jul 21 - Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
  • INSET Day Sep 1, 2025 Inset Day
  • INSET Day Jan 5, 2026 Inset Day
  • INSET Day Apr 13, 2026 Inset Day
  • INSET Day Jul 17, 2026 Inset Day
  • INSET Day Jul 20, 2026 Inset Day
  • New Year's Day Jan 1, 2026 Event
  • Good Friday Apr 3, 2026 Event
  • Easter Monday Apr 6, 2026 Holiday
  • Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
  • Spring Bank Holiday May 25, 2026 Holiday
  • Summer Bank Holiday Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
  • Christmas Day Dec 25, 2025 Holiday
  • Boxing Day Dec 26, 2025 Event

Exam results & performance

DfE performance tables Official results, 2024–2025 GOV.UK ↗
38.6 Attainment 8 England 46.1
29.6% Grade 5+ English & maths England 45.4%
23.6% Persistent absence England 17.8%

The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Burnley High School with Lancashire County Council and England.

Key stage 4 (GCSE) 38.6 Attainment 8 score

Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.

This school Lancashire County Council England

Attainment 8 score · Average across 8 GCSEs, out of 90 38.6
Lancashire County Council 45.1 England 46.1 -7.5 vs England
Grade 5+ in English & maths · A strong pass 29.6%
Lancashire County Council 43.5% England 45.4% -15.8 vs England
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils 29.3
Lancashire County Council 32.7 England 34.9 -5.6 vs England
Disadvantage gap · Attainment 8 points; smaller is better 14.5
Lancashire County Council 16.6 England 15.5 -1 vs England
Disadvantaged pupils in the year group · Context for the scores above 36%
Lancashire County Council 25.6% England 28.2%
Pupils in the year group · Small cohorts swing wildly 125
Attendance 23.6% Persistently absent pupils

Absence across the whole school year.

This school Lancashire County Council England

Persistently absent pupils · Missed 10%+ of sessions; lower is better 23.6%
Lancashire County Council 17.1% England 17.8% +5.8 vs England
Overall absence · Lower is better 8%
Lancashire County Council 6.5% England 6.8% +1.3 vs England
What pupils do after GCSEs 86% In education, apprenticeship or work

Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.

This school Lancashire County Council England

In education, apprenticeship or work 86%
Lancashire County Council 90% England 92% -6 vs England
Same, for disadvantaged pupils 73%
Lancashire County Council 79% England 83% -10 vs England
About this data source & caveats

Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.

Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.

We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.

Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Burnley High School. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.

Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Location & catchment area

Indicative catchment Other secondary schools

Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Burnley High School than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.