Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School
About the school
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School is a state-funded grammar school in North West England.
Latest Ofsted inspection
Published Ofsted information, current as at 31 July 2026. Inspection outcomes are not performance rankings.
- Latest inspection
- 14 June 2022
- Published
- 22 September 2022
- Inspection type
- Section 8 inspection of good and outstanding schools
- Latest outcome
- Inadequate
Category of concern: SM
Previous inspection framework
These judgements are retained by Ofsted from an earlier inspection framework.
Overall effectiveness
Inadequate
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Inadequate
Personal development
Inadequate
Leadership and management
Inadequate
Safeguarding
No
Early years
Not applicable
Sixth form
Inadequate
Results and school context
GCSE and key stage 4
Attainment 8
- School
- 73.3
- Lancashire
- 45.1
- England
- 46.1
Progress 8
The DfE has not published this measure for 2024/25.
- School
- N/A
- Lancashire
- N/A
- England
- N/A
English and maths grade 5+
- School
- 96.60%
- Lancashire
- 43.50%
- England
- 45.40%
English and maths grade 4+
- School
- 100.00%
- Lancashire
- 63.90%
- England
- 64.80%
EBacc entry
- School
- 96.00%
- Lancashire
- 34.30%
- England
- 40.50%
EBacc average point score
- School
- 7.15
- Lancashire
- 3.95
- England
- 4.09
A levels and sixth form
Average A-level grade
- School
- B
Average A-level points
- School
- 39.55
AAB or better
- School
- 31.20%
Pupil context and attendance
DfE context data for 2024/25. These characteristics provide context and are not quality ratings.
Pupils on roll
1056
Girls
48.48%
Boys
51.52%
SEN support
7.86%
Education, health and care plan
0.85%
English as an additional language
7.30%
Eligible for free school meals in the past six years
7.86%
Overall absence
4.61
Persistent absence
7.11
Admissions
thumb|left|View of the school in 2006 One of only four grammar schools in Lancashire following the mass closure under Margaret Thatcher, the school continues its initial aim to educate local children. Pupils applying from Rossendale area primary schools are given preference. The school, a highly popular state school, administers its own entrance examination, rather than the eleven-plus. Highly competitive, it still attracts students who commute from cities and towns around the north of England, including as far as Liverpool and Bradford in the 1990s. Most of the lower school pupils stay on to become sixth form students, with more students taken from other secondary schools.