Alder Grange School

About Alder Grange School

Alder Grange School in Rossendale holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across its two most recent inspections. The most telling academic metric for this 11-18 mixed state secondary is its Progress 8 score of -0.32, which places it in the 'Below average' banding nationally. This means that, on average, pupils achieve about a third of a grade less per subject across eight core GCSEs than students with similar starting points elsewhere. Within Lancashire, where the average Progress 8 score for all state secondaries is -0.11, Alder Grange sits 56th out of 90 schools of its type. It ranks 4th out of 6 schools in the Rossendale local authority area, and its national percentile of 72.7 puts it in the bottom half of all schools in England. The school's Attainment 8 score sits at 40.3, and just 31.7% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths.

Looking more closely at the GCSE breakdown, the school's Progress 8 scores are negative across every subject bucket, though the weakest area is open subjects (-0.42) and the strongest is maths (-0.15). The English and maths scores are closer to the national average than the EBacc subjects. Only 5.8% of pupils entered the EBacc suite of qualifications, and just 1.4% achieved a grade 5 or above in it. At A-level, the school's sixth form is rated Good by Ofsted, and its value-added score of -0.2 is within the 'Average' banding. With 25 pupils in the data, the average points per entry was 20.91, equating to a D grade. The proportion of students achieving AAB or higher in at least two facilitating subjects was 9.1%. These figures suggest that while the school provides a solid foundation, particularly at GCSE core subjects, it is not pushing pupils significantly beyond expected progress.

Alder Grange is at full capacity with 902 pupils, and it is heavily oversubscribed: for 145 places in 2025/26, it received 511 total applications, with 218 listing it as first preference. Only 144 first-preference offers were made, so competition is fierce. The school serves a community with 23.5% of pupils eligible for free school meals, slightly above the national average. Facilities include a sports hall, gymnasium, theatre, and a dedicated sixth form centre. SEND provision covers a wide range of needs, including dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorder, and social, emotional and mental health support. For families who value a broad extracurricular offer — with clubs like Model UN, Young Enterprise, and a range of sports from martial arts to hockey — Alder Grange provides plenty of opportunity. However, parents focused on strong academic value-added or high EBacc uptake may want to look at higher-performing schools in the Lancashire area.

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