Our Lady and St John RC High School, a Voluntary Academy Review 2026: Catholic secondary in Blackburn with strong faith life and a broad enrichment offer

This is a Catholic, mixed 11 to 16 secondary in Blackburn town centre, with capacity for 821 students and a published admission number of 150 for Year 7 entry.

The school is part of the Romero Catholic Multi Academy Trust and admissions are coordinated by Blackburn with Darwen, with a faith-based oversubscription process that prioritises baptised Catholic children when the year group is full.

Academic outcomes, as captured in the FindMySchool GCSE outcomes ranking, sit below England average. The wider picture is more mixed: there is clear evidence of a carefully developed curriculum in parts of the school, a strong emphasis on reading and a deep set of extracurricular options that go beyond sport, including engineering, robotics and performing arts.

The Catholic identity is not an add-on here, it shapes daily routines, language and expectations. The school’s published mission is centred on being a caring Catholic community, and the prospectus sets out a clear values framework built around Unity, Faith, Truth, Justice, Forgiveness and Industry.

A distinctive feature is the school’s house structure, which gives students a smaller community inside a large secondary. The parent information booklet lists the houses as Ampleforth, Caldey, Fountains, Iona, Lindisfarne and Walsingham, with pastoral leadership attached to each year group and house. This matters for families because strong day-to-day routines, a known pastoral team and consistent escalation routes often determine whether a student feels “seen” in a larger setting.

The school also uses its site in a practical, student-specific way. Lunch is managed across two buildings, with Year 11 based in the Notre Dame building and Years 7 to 10 in the main building. It is a small operational detail, but it signals the kind of structured organisation that can reduce friction at busy transition points of the day.

Ranked 3,587th in England and 17th in Blackburn for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking, based on official data)

This places results below England average overall.

On the headline GCSE measures available, the average Attainment 8 score is 32.8 and the average EBacc APS is 2.82, with 8.1% achieving grades 5 or above across the EBacc. A Progress 8 score of -1 indicates substantially below-average progress from starting points.

For parents, the implication is straightforward. Strong structures and enrichment can be present, but if academic outcomes matter most for your child’s next steps, you should probe how interventions are targeted, how gaps are closed in Key Stage 4, and how consistently classroom routines support learning across subjects.

Curriculum intent is framed in the prospectus as ambitious across Key Stage 3, with a stated focus on building knowledge securely over time before Key Stage 4 options narrow. The most recent published inspection evidence for the predecessor school on this site describes curriculum development work as well advanced in some areas, and earlier-stage in others, particularly for Key Stage 4 where gaps from prior years can still limit achievement.

Reading is treated as a whole-school priority. The inspection evidence points to staff training and regular reading sessions linked to a refurbished library, with catch-up systems in Key Stage 3 described as working well, while extension into Key Stage 4 was identified as a next step.

For families, the best way to interpret this is that the trajectory depends on consistency. Where subject sequencing is tight and assessment is used well, students benefit from clear explanations and well-judged practice. Where this is less embedded, progress can be uneven, especially for students who already have gaps in knowledge.

Because the school is 11 to 16, the key transition is post-16 into sixth form, further education or apprenticeship routes. Careers information published by the school highlights links with Blackburn College, including Year 9 enrichment days focused on STEM and other themed pathways.

The inspection evidence for the predecessor school also indicates that students are given information about further education and career options, aligned to provider access requirements.

The practical implication is that families should evaluate two things early, not in Year 11. First, whether subject choices at Key Stage 4 keep the right doors open for your child’s likely post-16 route. Second, whether the school’s day-to-day attendance and behaviour culture supports a strong Key Stage 4 run-in, as that is what most directly affects college or sixth form options.

Year 7 admissions for September 2026 are made through the local authority common application route, with the national closing date of 31 October 2025 stated explicitly in the determined admissions policy for the trust’s Catholic secondary academies.

The published admission number for Year 7 is 150.

Where the school is oversubscribed, priority is driven by faith and family connection. The admissions policy states that applicants who want to be considered under the faith criteria should provide evidence of Catholic baptism or reception into full communion, and return the supplementary form by the same national closing date.

The oversubscription order begins with baptised Catholic looked-after children, then baptised Catholic children with siblings already at the school, then baptised Catholic children from named partner primary schools, before other baptised Catholic children, and then a sequence of non-Catholic criteria including siblings and other specified links. If a tie-break is needed within a criterion, distance is used as the tie-break, with random allocation as a last resort in exceptional cases where applicants cannot be separated.

For September 2026 entry, Blackburn with Darwen indicates applications open from 4 September 2025 and the offer day for Year 7 places starting September 2026 is 2 March 2026.

The school’s transition information also states an internal deadline of 31 March 2026 for families to accept or decline the offer, reflecting high demand and waiting list management.

Safeguarding structures are clearly published for parents. The school information booklet lists designated safeguarding leads (DSLs) and emphasises that students will be listened to and supported through the most appropriate help when concerns are raised.

For behaviour and attendance, the latest published inspection evidence for the predecessor school highlights a familiar challenge pattern in many urban secondaries: most students behave well, but a small minority can disrupt lessons and internal truancy can undermine learning. It also confirms that safeguarding arrangements were effective at the time.

Beyond routine pastoral systems, the school’s SEND policy describes internal support structures including The Hub, framed as short-term teaching and support programmes to improve behaviour and attitude to learning, and it also references provision that includes therapeutic sessions delivered by internal and external providers.

The enrichment offer is a genuine strength, particularly because it includes practical and creative options alongside sport. The school’s clubs and societies information lists activities such as debating, bike maintenance, woodwork, engineering, robotics, model making, media, gardening and photography, which is broader than many comparably sized secondaries.

If you want evidence that this is not just a generic list, the published extracurricular timetable shows structured sessions such as 3D Design Engineering, Coding, Science Club, Technology Club, Book Club, Street dance, and Duke of Edinburgh Expedition Training. These are the kinds of clubs that can anchor engagement for students who do not naturally identify as “sporty” or “dramatic”.

Sport is well-resourced too. The school publishes details of a floodlit 3G outdoor football pitch supported by Blackburn Rovers Community Trust and available for hire, suggesting a facility that is used frequently and designed for year-round access.

The school day timings published for parents show prayer and registration from 8:30am, with the final lesson ending at 2:45pm.

Lunch is managed across two buildings, with Year 11 based in the Notre Dame building and Years 7 to 10 in the main building; students are not permitted to leave site at lunchtime.

Given the location in Blackburn town centre, the school is well placed for public transport links and walkability; families should still factor in peak-time congestion and arrival routines when planning the daily commute.

• Academic outcomes are currently a weakness on the available measures. The FindMySchool GCSE outcomes ranking places the school below England average, and the published Progress 8 score is substantially below average. For students who need strong academic momentum, ask how gaps are diagnosed and closed in Key Stage 4.

• Behaviour and internal truancy have been identified as barriers to learning. Most students engage well, but a small minority can disrupt lessons and attendance within the school day can be inconsistent for some. The practical question for parents is how consistently behaviour systems are applied across classrooms.

• Admissions are faith-influenced when the year is full. Families seeking a place via the Catholic criteria need to return supporting evidence and the supplementary form by the national deadline; without it, applicants are ranked differently in the process.

• It is a large 11 to 16 secondary. With more than 800 students on roll, children who thrive tend to be those who respond well to routine, clear expectations and proactive pastoral contact, especially through the Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4 transition.

For families who want a Catholic secondary in central Blackburn with a strong faith life, clear values language and an unusually wide set of clubs and societies, this school can be a good fit. It particularly suits students who engage when there is something practical or creative to belong to, such as engineering, coding, performing arts, Duke of Edinburgh or structured sports provision. The key decision point is academic trajectory: results and progress measures indicate that many students will need focused support and consistent classroom routines to thrive through Key Stage 4.