Ribblesdale School
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Ribblesdale School is a council school in Clitheroe for boys and girls aged 4 to 16. It has 1,437 pupils and room for 1,635. About 17 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. We give it 44 out of 100. That puts it in line with schools like it, ahead of 46% of the 50 schools most like it. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2025, no overall grade.
Queens Road, Clitheroe, BB7 1EJ01200 422563ribblesdale.orgMrs Anne-Marie Horrocks headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 1 July 2025, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
281 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 281 | 280 | 276 | 237 | 217 | 231 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 43.5 | 43.2 | 41.7 | 41.7 | 47.9 | 45.1 | 46.0 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | -0.25 | -0.34 | -0.75 | +0.05 | -0.27 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 38% | 41% | 32% | 44% | 48% | 41% | 44% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 67% | 61% | 59% | 68% | 71% | 65% | 65% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 3.56 | 3.57 | 3.42 | 3.87 | 4.12 | 3.76 | 4.04 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 21% | 17% | 17% | 19% | 26% | 15% | 35% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 33.9 | 39.8 | 37.9 | 33.5 | 41.0 | 35.5 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 45.3 | 43.8 | 42.5 | 42.8 | 48.7 | 46.8 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 24.9 | 26.2 | 25.6 | 29.4 | 23.8 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 59.7 | 58.4 | 57.8 | 60.1 | 56.8 | – | – |
Subjects
Results came out for 17 GCSE subjects in 2025. Each figure is the share of pupils who got a grade 5 or better, next to the average for state secondaries in England.
Strongest subjects
Subjects that did worse than the England average: French (26% here, 60% across England), Drama (33% here, 60% across England), Design & Technology (33% here, 50% across England), Physical Education (42% here, 56% across England).
The small number is how many pupils sat each subject. Subjects with fewer than six pupils aren't published.
Every subject against England, 2025
| Subject | Entries | Grades 9 to 7 | Grades 9 to 5 | Grades 9 to 4 | England 9 to 5 | Rank in England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 281 | 10% | 47% | 72% | 53% | 1,959 of 3,211 |
| English Language | 281 | 9% | 49% | 68% | 54% | 1,867 of 3,210 |
| English Literature | 278 | 12% | 53% | 71% | 58% | 1,824 of 3,202 |
| Religious Studies | 277 | 8% | 48% | 64% | 60% | 1,382 of 1,825 |
| Combined Science | 250 | 6% | 25% | 50% | 36% | 2,245 of 3,084 |
| History | 160 | 16% | 49% | 66% | 52% | 1,651 of 3,126 |
| Art and Design | 88 | 19% | 69% | 92% | 58% | 894 of 2,818 |
| Physical Education | 81 | 14% | 42% | 52% | 56% | 1,131 of 1,559 |
| French | 50 | 4% | 26% | 38% | 60% | 1,856 of 1,974 |
| Design & Technology | 40 | 10% | 33% | 55% | 50% | 1,101 of 1,478 |
| Computer Science | 39 | 5% | 44% | 56% | 56% | 1,248 of 1,861 |
| Geography | 36 | 22% | 56% | 69% | 51% | 1,040 of 3,116 |
| Spanish | 31 | 13% | 45% | 52% | 54% | 1,317 of 1,941 |
| Physics | 31 | 7% | 68% | 90% | 82% | 2,029 of 2,546 |
| Chemistry | 31 | 10% | 77% | 100% | 81% | 1,679 of 2,537 |
| Biology | 31 | 13% | 90% | 100% | 82% | 1,103 of 2,570 |
| Drama | 15 | 7% | 33% | 40% | 60% | – |
In combined science each pupil gets two grades and we count the lower one. Rankings only include state secondaries where 20 or more pupils sat the subject.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 1 of the 3 gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test.
About 221 places were empty, so most families who apply get in, though a popular year group can still fill up. Pupil numbers have grown by 4% since 2021/22, so places are getting harder to come by.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Lancashire council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
What parents say
From Ofsted's Parent View survey: 99 parents answered in the year to 6 April 2026. Parents choose whether to fill it in, and many only do so when an inspection is coming, so don't read too much into small differences. The England figures are the average for secondary schools with enough answers to publish.
Who goes here
Who a school teaches matters. That is why our score compares it with schools that take in a similar mix of children, not with every school in the country.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Specific learning difficulty (45), emotional and mental health (39), Moderate learning difficulty (28), language and communications needs (15), Autistic spectrum disorder (14), Other difficulty or disability (9).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 1,437 | 1,410 | 1,396 | 1,408 | 1,371 | 1,336 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 17% | 16% | 15% | 14% | 12% | 11% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 4% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 2% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 9% | 10% | 10% | 11% | 9% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 2% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 92.5% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2018/19 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 7.5% | 7.5% | 7.3% | 6.5% | 4.0% | 4.8% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 5.3% | 5.5% | 5.0% | 4.8% | 3.1% | 4.1% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 2.2% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1.7% | 1.0% | 0.7% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 21.8% | 25.6% | 21.6% | 19.5% | 9.5% | 10.8% | 23.9% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 5.3 | 3.6 | – | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | – | – |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 276 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Among pupils from low-income families it was 78%, compared with 93% for everyone else.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers | 2019/20 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 91% | 94% | 94% | 95% |
| Education | 71% | 80% | 80% | 80% |
| Apprenticeship | 12% | 9% | 12% | 10% |
| Work | 7% | 5% | 2% | 5% |
| Not in education, work or training | 8% | 4% | 3% | 5% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ribblesdale Nursery School | Local authority nursery school | 140 m | 60 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| St James' Church of England Primary School, Clitheroe | Church of England | 260 m | 262 | Not inspected | 21 | Compare |
| St Michael and St John's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy | Academy | 380 m | 133 | Good 2023 | – | Compare |
| Clitheroe Brookside Primary School | Council | 820 m | 87 | Report card 2026 | 4 | Compare |
| Clitheroe Royal Grammar School | Academy (grammar) | 880 m | 1,496 | Outstanding 2022 | 98 | Compare |
| Edisford Primary School | Council | 0.6 miles | 212 | Good 2020 | 88 | Compare |
| Clitheroe Pendle Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 349 | Good 2024 | 79 | Compare |
| Moorland School Limited | Independent | 1.1 miles | 220 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
Compared with schools like it
Our score compares Ribblesdale School with the 50 schools in England whose pupils are most like its own. We match on family income, how many children are learning English, special needs, the neighbourhood, the size of the school and how it admits pupils. Those 50 schools are dotted all over the country, so we don't list them. What matters is where this school sits among them.
How the score was worked out
The score is out of 100. A 44 means that once everything below is added up, this school comes out ahead of 44% of secondary schools in England. Results bounce around from year to year, especially in small schools, so we also show a likely range: 34 to 53. Every part is judged against schools with a similar mix of pupils. For small schools we pull each part towards the group average, so one unusual year can't swing the score too far.
| What we looked at | How much it counts | Against schools like it | Effect on the score | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results over three years | 20% | below | -0.07 | 2025, 2024 and 2023 results; 281 pupils |
| Ofsted inspection | 20% | above | +0.07 | Ofsted grade, 1.2 years old |
| Progress pupils make | 20% | below | -0.09 | DfE progress measure; 281 pupils |
| Direction of travel over five years | 10% | in line | +0.02 | results and attendance falling year on year |
| Attendance and behaviour | 10% | above | +0.04 | 2024/25; 1,429 pupils |
| Results, allowing for the mix of pupils | 10% | well below | -0.12 | Attainment relative to schools with a similar intake; 281 pupils |
| What pupils do next | 5% | in line | +0.00 | 276 pupils |
| What parents say | 5% | above | +0.04 | Ofsted's Parent View survey, allowing for how many parents replied; 99 responses |
Worked out on 13 September 2026 (method v1). Read how the score works, including every weight and the checks we run. Think a number is wrong? Tell us.
Questions parents ask
Is Ribblesdale School a good school?
It is about average. Ribblesdale School scores 44 out of 100. That is in line with schools that take in a similar mix of pupils, and ahead of 46% of the 50 schools most like it in England. The score could fairly be anywhere from 34 to 53, so a few points either way between schools doesn't mean much.
What is Ribblesdale School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Ribblesdale School not judged at its last full inspection on 1 July 2025.
How good are Ribblesdale School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 38% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 43.5, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished about half a grade behind children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does Ribblesdale School have?
1,437 pupils aged 4 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 1,635 places, so it is 88% full.
Is Ribblesdale School oversubscribed?
Probably not. 221 places were empty in 2024/25 (14% of the total), so most families who apply get a place.
What is attendance like at Ribblesdale School?
Pupils were in school 92.5% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 22% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
What do parents say about Ribblesdale School?
92% of the 99 parents who answered Ofsted's Parent View survey would recommend it to other parents, and 89% say their child is happy there. Across England, 77% of parents would recommend their child's school.
How big are the classes at Ribblesdale School?
The average class had 24.3 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 12% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does Ribblesdale School have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship; 91% of 2022/23 leavers were still in education, work or training six months on.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Queens Road, Clitheroe, BB7 1EJ
- Telephone
- 01200 422563
- Website
- www.ribblesdale.org
- Headteacher
- Mrs Anne-Marie Horrocks
- Type of school
- Council school (Community school, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- All-through school, ages 4-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Ward
- Littlemoor
- Constituency
- Pendle and Clitheroe
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 119716 · LAESTAB 8884013 · UKPRN 10017375
Recent changes
- New KS4 results for 2024/25
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.