Unity Academy Blackpool

About Unity Academy Blackpool

Unity Academy Blackpool is a mixed state secondary in Blackpool, one of ten schools of its type in the local authority. It serves pupils from age 2 to 16, with no sixth form, and is led by headteacher John Connolly. In the most recent local rankings based on Progress 8 scores, the school sits ninth out of nine ranked schools, placing it at the bottom of the LA table. For context, the top-performing local peers include St George's School A Church of England Academy, The Blackpool Sixth Form College, and St Mary's Catholic Academy, all of which achieved higher Progress 8 scores. The school is oversubscribed for 2025/26, with 208 applications for 119 places and 114 first-preference applications, suggesting strong local demand despite its ranking. With 60.3% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a significantly disadvantaged community, and its capacity of 1020 is close to full with 946 pupils on roll.

Academically, the school's most recent Progress 8 score of -1.94 is well below average nationally and significantly worse than the Blackpool LA average of -0.98. Attainment 8 sits at 26.5, and only 24.3% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths, compared with 11.7% at grade 5 or better. The EBacc average point score is 2.14, with just 2.7% of pupils entering the EBacc combination. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in December 2024, the school was judged Inadequate overall, with leadership and management and quality of education both rated Inadequate. Behaviour and attitudes were rated Requires improvement, while personal development and early years provision were rated Good. This represents a decline from the previous inspection in July 2022, when the school was rated Requires improvement across all areas.

The school offers a wide range of facilities including a theatre, music rooms, astro turf, science labs, sports hall, and art studios, and pupils can choose from sports such as rowing, rugby, and gymnastics, plus clubs like Young Enterprise, Model UN, and chess. SEND provisions cover specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulty, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, hearing and visual impairments, and physical disability. Parent View responses from 76 parents show 63% would recommend the school, with strong agreement on happiness (50% strongly agree) and safety (47% strongly agree), though concerns remain around behaviour management and how concerns are handled. This school may suit families who value its all-through provision from age 2 and its range of extracurricular activities, but who are aware of the significant academic and leadership challenges highlighted by Ofsted and exam data.

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