Blackpool Aspire Academy

Blackpool · FY3 7LS

General information Secondary School · 11-16 years Who goes here 799 pupils, 66.6% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted: Requires improvement

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 15.6% on SEN support Behaviour 9.6% absence rate Staff 6.5% turnover Financials £9,391 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Blackpool Aspire Academy

General Information

Address: Blackpool Old Road, Blackpool, FY3 7LS – View on map
Phone: 01253353155
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mr John Woods
Age range: 11-16 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: None
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

799 pupils out of 900 places

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 532
% eligible for free school meals: 66.6%
Pupil mix: 3 in 10 (similar to the Blackpool average)
English as an additional language: 10% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 6.5% a year (Blackpool 11.3%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 38% moved to another school, 62% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Blackpool: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 4 (0.5 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 1
Suspensions for bullying: 9 (1.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 1 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Blackpool, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 9.6%
Persistently absent pupils: 32.8%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 15.6%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 2.5%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Specific learning difficulty: 38 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 31 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 25 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 17 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 10 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Moderate learning difficulty: 9 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
Autistic spectrum disorder: 2 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil
Severe learning difficulty: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Requires improvement 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 36.7
Compared with the area: 3.2 points below the Blackpool average (39.9)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: Above (+2.8 points against an expected 33.9)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 53% (Blackpool 56%, England 65%) Improving
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolBlackpool averageEngland↗ Improving Up 4.0 points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 3.2 points below the Blackpool average (39.9).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

4th of 7 secondary schools in Blackpool for Attainment 8

#2St Mary's Catholic Academy41.5
#3Montgomery Academy40.0
#4Blackpool Aspire Academy36.7
#5Armfield Academy35.6
#6Highfield Leadership Academy30.0

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1St George's School A Church of England Academy55.5
#2St Mary's Catholic Academy41.5
#3Montgomery Academy40.0
#4Blackpool Aspire Academy36.7
#5Armfield Academy35.6
#6Highfield Leadership Academy30.0
#7Unity Academy Blackpool29.3

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 83.0%
Went into further education: 76.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
Science Double Award
Geography
History
Biology
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Art & Design
French Language
Religious Studies
Photography
Statistics

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

4th of 6 secondary schools in Blackpool for Ofsted rating

#2Montgomery AcademyGood
#3St Mary's Catholic AcademyGood
#4Blackpool Aspire AcademyRequires improvement
#5Highfield Leadership AcademyRequires improvement
#6South Shore AcademyInadequate

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Armfield AcademyGood
#2Montgomery AcademyGood
#3St Mary's Catholic AcademyGood
#4Blackpool Aspire AcademyRequires improvement
#5Highfield Leadership AcademyRequires improvement
#6South Shore AcademyInadequate

Financials

Spending per pupil: £9,391 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

3rd of 8 secondary schools in Blackpool for spending per pupil

#1South Shore Academy£11,570
#2Highfield Leadership Academy£10,341
#3Blackpool Aspire Academy£9,391
#4Unity Academy Blackpool£9,150
#5St Mary's Catholic Academy£8,316

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1South Shore Academy£11,570
#2Highfield Leadership Academy£10,341
#3Blackpool Aspire Academy£9,391
#4Unity Academy Blackpool£9,150
#5St Mary's Catholic Academy£8,316
#6Montgomery Academy£8,117
#7Armfield Academy£7,455
#8St George's School A Church of England Academy£7,397

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Blackpool: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered