The Hyndburn Academy, Blackburn

Ofsted's report card from its 19 May 2026 inspection grades The Hyndburn Academy on 6 areas: 5 expected standard and 1 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders have put robust and coherent systems in place to monitor patterns of attendance to school."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders have an accurate view of the quality of the curriculum and teaching across the school."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders use a range of information to identify pupils' barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leadership in the school has undergone significant change in the last year."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Leaders have designed a wide-ranging and thoughtful approach to pupils' personal development and wellbeing."

Achievement - Needs attention. "For too long, pupils have not achieved as well as they should in public examinations at the end of key stage 4."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that teachers' checks of what pupils know and can do are carried out consistently and effectively so that any gaps in knowledge are addressed promptly"; "Leaders should ensure that pupils get the academic help they need, in a timely way, to achieve well in national examinations at the end of year 11"; "Leaders should further develop their work with parents and carers so that there is an effective partnership between home and school to support pupils' learning".

In 2026, pupils at The Hyndburn Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 37.1, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 46.2 in Lancashire and 47 across England.

22% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 44% in Lancashire and 47% in England.

That is in line with 2025, when the score was 37.4.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.78: pupils made well 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 32.2, against 41 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 8.8 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 21 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, History and Health Studies.

For September 2026 entry, 90 families put The Hyndburn Academy as their first choice and 182 named it as one of their preferences, for 104 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state secondary schools to The Hyndburn Academy are Accrington St Christopher's Church of England High School (1.9 miles, Good, Attainment 8 50.5); Accrington Academy (2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 39.8); Rhyddings (2.1 miles, Attainment 8 33.9); and Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy (2.5 miles, Attainment 8 36.6).

The Hyndburn Academy's 2026 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.

The Hyndburn Academy is one of 98 schools run by United Learning Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 49 in 2024/25.

34 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about The Hyndburn Academy (as of April 2026): 91% would recommend the school, 74% say their child is happy there and 75% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that they would recommend the school (91%); the weakest, that their child is happy at the school (74%).

Of the 95 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 78% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 67% to a further education college, 3% to an apprenticeship and 5% into work.

46.6% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), according to the 2026 school census.

The nearest railway station is Rishton Rail Station, about 800 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).

3 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Stourton Street (by), 80 metres away.

Measured by the 2025 English Indices of Deprivation, the neighbourhood The Hyndburn Academy stands in is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. This describes where the school is, not where its pupils live.

In August 2026, police recorded 63 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and vehicle crime. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Lancashire (109).

In 2024/25, The Hyndburn Academy issued 239 suspensions, 36.5 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 8 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to The Hyndburn Academy are Rishton St Peter and St Paul's Church of England Primary School (0.1 miles); St Charles' Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy (0.4 miles); Rishton Methodist Primary School (0.4 miles); and Great Harwood Primary School (0.9 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.