Schools in Darwen
Darwen is a mill town on the western edge of the Pennines, falling under Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council for school admissions. The area's 19 schools include 14 primaries and 3 secondary schools: Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio, and Darwen Vale High School. Catchment boundaries are published annually by the local authority and can shift year to year based on application pressure.
Ten of Darwen's schools carry a religious designation - the highest proportion of faith schools among the town's cohort - spanning Catholic and Church of England foundations. Five schools currently hold a Good or Outstanding Ofsted rating. One primary is at or above its admission number, but secondary competition across the three Darwen schools means checking your home address against each school's defined catchment area before making preferences is essential.
School demand in Darwen
Across the 18 schools in Darwen with published capacity data, the average fill rate is 84%. 1 of them is currently at or above their published admission number, and at those schools catchment distance is likely to decide places at the next intake.
10 schools in Darwen have a religious character, so faith criteria sit alongside catchment distance in their admissions policies.
7 of the schools in Darwen are academies that set their own admissions criteria independently of Blackburn with Darwen, so check each school's policy directly rather than assuming the council default applies.
6 of the schools in Darwen have a current Ofsted rating, of which 5 are rated Good or Outstanding. Demand and catchment distance tend to be tightest at the highest-rated schools.
Primary schools in Darwen: 1 oversubscribed (14)
Lower Darwen Primary School
Primary · Community school
Darwen · BB3 0RB
Ashleigh Primary School
Primary · Foundation school
Darwen · BB3 2JT
Avondale Primary School
Primary · Community school
Darwen · BB3 1NN
Holy Trinity VC School
Primary · Voluntary controlled school
Darwen · BB3 2RW
Hoddlesden St Paul's Church of England Primary School
Primary · Voluntary aided school
Darwen · BB3 3NH
Darwen St Peter's Church of England Primary School
Primary · Voluntary aided school
DARWEN · BB3 2BW
St Stephen's Tockholes CofE Primary School
Primary · Voluntary aided school
Darwen · BB3 0LX
St James' Church of England Primary School
Primary · Voluntary aided school
Darwen · BB3 0QP
St Cuthbert's Church of England Primary School
Primary · Voluntary aided school
Darwen · BB3 0HY
St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Darwen
Primary · Voluntary aided school
DARWEN · BB3 2SG
Darwen St James CofE Primary Academy
Primary · Academy converter
Darwen · BB3 0EY
Darwen, St Barnabas CofE Primary Academy
Primary · Academy converter
Darwen · BB3 2JA
Darwen Aldridge Sudell Primary
Primary · Academy converter
Darwen · BB3 3EB
St Edward's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy
Primary · Academy converter
Darwen · BB3 0AA
Secondary Schools in Darwen (3)
Darwen Aldridge Community Academy
Secondary · Academy sponsor led
Darwen · BB3 3HD
Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio
Secondary · Studio schools
Darwen · BB3 1AF
Darwen Vale High School
Secondary · Academy sponsor led
Darwen · BB3 0AL
Other Schools in Darwen (2)
Catchment area boundaries for schools in Darwen are set by Blackburn with Darwen and updated each year. The "last distance offered", how far the furthest successful applicant lived, changes annually based on the number of applications received.