The Alternative School
The Alternative School is an independent school in Accrington for boys and girls aged 6 to 18. It has 172 pupils and room for 260.
30 St. James Street, Accrington, BB5 1NT01282 851800thealternativeschool.co.ukMs Kirsty Swierkowski headteacherAll details
Inspection
This private school is inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, not Ofsted. Its reports are at isi.net.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
43 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 | 43 | 29 | 34 | 35 | 41 | 41 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 46.0 | 46.8 |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 44% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 3% | 0% | 5% | 0% | 65% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 0.15 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.08 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 4.04 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 35% | 41% |
Subjects
Results came out for 2 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.
Subjects that did worse than the England average: English Language (0% here, 54% across England), Mathematics (3% here, 53% 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 | 31 | 0% | 3% | 7% | 53% | – |
| English Language | 31 | 0% | 0% | 3% | 54% | – |
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.
A level and sixth-form results, 2025
3 students finished sixth-form courses.
All sixth-form measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Students | 3 | 4 | 41 |
| Average A level grade | z | z | NE |
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. Every gap at this school 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
Admissions policy not published.
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.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 172 | 152 | 103 | 89 | 73 | 104 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | – | – | – | – | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | – | – | – | – | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 45% | 61% | 80% | 85% | 93% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 55% | 39% | 20% | 15% | 7% |
What pupils do next
After sixth form
Where the 6 pupils who left in 2020/21 were a year later.
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 schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accrington Woodnook Primary School | Council | 640 m | 220 | No overall grade 2025 | 8 | Compare |
| Lee Royd Nursery School | Local authority nursery school | 670 m | 79 | Good 2024 | – | Compare |
| Accrington St Mary Magdalen's Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 710 m | 176 | Report card 2026 | 4 | Compare |
| Accrington Benjamin Hargreaves Church of England Primary School | Academy | 750 m | 137 | Inadequate 2023 | 14 | Compare |
| Accrington St John with St Augustine Church of England Primary School | Church of England | 810 m | 207 | Good 2023 | 9 | Compare |
| Accrington Hyndburn Park Primary School | Council | 860 m | 434 | Good 2022 | 24 | Compare |
| Accrington Spring Hill Community Primary School | Council | 880 m | 362 | Requires improvement 2023 | 1 | Compare |
| Accrington Peel Park Primary School | Foundation | 0.6 miles | 570 | No overall grade 2024 | 15 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is The Alternative School a good school?
We don't have enough published data to score The Alternative School yet.
How good are The Alternative School's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 0% 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 2.4, against 46.8 for England.
How many pupils does The Alternative School have?
172 pupils aged 6 to 18 were on the roll in January 2024. It has 260 places, so it is 66% full.
Does The Alternative School have a sixth form?
Yes. The average A level grade in 2025 was z.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- 30 St. James Street, Accrington, BB5 1NT
- Telephone
- 01282 851800
- Website
- www.thealternativeschool.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Ms Kirsty Swierkowski
- Type of school
- Independent school (Other independent school, independent schools)
- Phase
- Independent school, ages 6-18, with sixth form
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Ward
- Barnfield
- Constituency
- Hyndburn
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 20 September 2010 (new provision)
- URN
- 136237 · LAESTAB 8886113 · UKPRN 10071809
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.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- 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.