Haslingden High School and Sixth Form, Rossendale

Ofsted's report card from its 3 June 2026 inspection grades Haslingden High School and Sixth Form on 7 areas: 1 strong standard and 6 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "Leaders have established an ambitious personal development programme."

Achievement - Expected standard. "Most pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, achieve well."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders monitor attendance patterns often and in detail."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders ensure that an ambitious, well-designed curriculum is in place."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders identify pupils' needs quickly and accurately."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders and governors at Haslingden High School are passionately committed to achieving the school's mission of ‘achievement for all'."

Post 16 provision - Expected standard. "Leaders have a clear vision for the sixth form."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure the strategies they are using to improve attendance are effective in continuing to reduce persistent absence quickly for all pupils"; "Leaders should ensure that the assessment strategies they are using to close gaps in pupils' skills and knowledge are effective for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is to raise pupils' achievement across the curriculum".

In its own words: "Achievement for All: for all our students to be safe, happy and successful, developing as individuals into caring, responsible citizens equipped for life in the 21st century We welcome students of all abilities, aptitudes and interests from a wide range of backgrounds. Our number one aim is ‘Achievement for All’ and we pride ourselves on our reputation for academic success."

From the headteacher's welcome: "“Pupils, including sixth-form students, feel safe and happy at Haslingden High School and Sixth Form. They are proud of their school and say it feels like a family..” OFSTED I am extremely proud to be the headteacher at Haslingden High School and Sixth Form, a successful, caring and high performing 11-18 school in the beautiful Rossendale Valley."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football, netball, rugby, cricket, basketball, swimming, dance, drama and Duke of Edinburgh.

In 2026, pupils at Haslingden High School and Sixth Form averaged an Attainment 8 score of 45.3, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 46.2 in Lancashire and 47 across England.

40% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 44% in Lancashire and 47% in England.

That is up from 44.2 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.13: pupils made below average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 33.4, against 48.8 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 15.4 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 25 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and Business Studies.

For September 2026 entry, 266 families put Haslingden High School and Sixth Form as their first choice and 669 named it as one of their preferences, for 263 places offered. That is slightly more first choices than places. 22 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to Haslingden High School and Sixth Form are All Saints' Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy (0.8 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 42.6); Alder Grange School (2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39.1); Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School (3 miles, selective, Attainment 8 75.5); and The Valley Leadership Academy (3.3 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 34.3).

Haslingden High School and Sixth Form's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

Of the 265 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 83% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 44% to a further education college, 7% to an apprenticeship and 2% into work.

Of the 91 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 34% went on to university or other higher education, 9% to apprenticeships and 34% into work. 12% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

3.7% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (78%) and Asian (15%).

In 2026, 166 pupils (10.8%) received SEN support and 38 (2.5%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

The nearest tram or metro stop is Rawtenstall (East Lancashire Railway), about 1.4 miles away in a straight line.

13 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Haslingden High School (outside), 50 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 59 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and criminal damage and arson. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Lancashire (109).

In 2024/25, Haslingden High School and Sixth Form issued 231 suspensions, 14.9 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Haslingden High School and Sixth Form are Haslingden Broadway Primary School (0.1 miles); St Veronica's Roman Catholic Primary School, Helmshore (0.3 miles); Helmshore Primary School (0.4 miles); and Haslingden Primary School (0.9 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.