Best Schools in Burnley

How many schools are there in Burnley?

Burnley has 63 open schools: 34 state primary, 7 state secondary or all-through, 5 independent, 8 special and 9 others.

Source: DfE Get Information About Schools

Which schools in Burnley are rated Outstanding?

11 schools in Burnley were rated Outstanding at their most recent graded Ofsted inspection: Olive High, Olive High Boys, Rosegrove Nursery School, Stoneyholme Nursery School, Burnley Stoneyholme Community Primary School and 6 more. Counting Good as well, 87% of the 55 graded schools here are rated Good or better. Ofsted stopped giving single-word overall grades in September 2024, so these are the grades from each school's last full inspection.

Olive HighOlive High BoysRosegrove Nursery SchoolStoneyholme Nursery SchoolBurnley Stoneyholme Community Primary School

Source: Ofsted

Which secondary schools in Burnley get the best GCSE results?

Of the 6 schools in Burnley with 2026 GCSE results, the highest Attainment 8 scores - the average grade across a pupil's best eight GCSEs - were at Sir John Thursby Community College, with an Attainment 8 score of 40.3 and 29% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above; Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy, with an Attainment 8 score of 40.1 and 34% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above; and Burnley High School, with an Attainment 8 score of 38.9 and 28% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above. Progress 8, the DfE's value-added measure, was not published for 2026.

Sir John Thursby Community CollegeBlessed Trinity Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary AcademyBurnley High School

Source: DfE school performance data

Which primary schools in Burnley have the best SATs results?

Of the 33 primary schools in Burnley with 2025 Key Stage 2 results, the highest shares of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading and maths were at Newchurch-In-Pendle St Mary's Church of England Primary School (100% in reading, 100% in maths); Wheatley Lane Methodist Primary School (86% in reading, 90% in maths); and Simonstone St Peter's Church of England Primary School (87% in reading, 87% in maths). Small schools can swing a long way from one year to the next, because each pupil is a large share of the result.

Newchurch-In-Pendle St Mary's Church of England Primary SchoolWheatley Lane Methodist Primary SchoolSimonstone St Peter's Church of England Primary School

Source: DfE school performance data

Are there grammar schools in Burnley?

No. None of the state secondary schools in Burnley selects pupils by ability, so every state secondary here is comprehensive.

Source: DfE Get Information About Schools

Do schools in Burnley have catchment areas?

Most state schools in Burnley have no fixed catchment boundary. When a school is oversubscribed, Lancashire allocates places on its published criteria - usually looked-after children first, then siblings, then home-to-school distance - so the practical cut-off moves each year. Each school's page here shows an estimate of its catchment radius.

How do I apply for a school place in Burnley?

Apply to Lancashire through its coordinated admissions process, even for academies and faith schools. In England the closing date is 31 October for secondary places and 15 January for primary places, in the year before your child starts. Independent schools run their own admissions, so apply to those directly.