Essential cookies keep you signed in. May we also set optional analytics cookies (Google Analytics 4, US-based)?
Rejecting is just as easy, and nothing else changes. Cookie details
2.431miles
was the furthest place offered on offer day for 2026-27 (Year 7). That is how far the last place reached in ONE year — not a boundary, and not a guarantee. It moves with the number of applicants, so treat it as a guide rather than a line on a map.
Last distance offered at Darwen Vale High School, year by year →
When there are more applications than places for 2027-28 (Year 7), places are offered in this order of priority. Meeting a higher criterion beats meeting a lower one.
If two applications tie: For criteria 2 onwards, where two or more applications cannot be separated by the oversubscription criteria, the academy uses the Local Authority's computerised system of random allocation as the tie-breaker. Multiple births or siblings in the same year group, where only one place is available, are considered together as one application; random allocation will not be applied to multiple-birth siblings tied for the final place - all will be admitted, exceeding the PAN in these exceptional circumstances.
Children whose EHCP names the academy are admitted before other places are allocated (not itself a numbered criterion). Feeder-school priority (criterion 2) applies to Year 7 applications only. Staff-child priority is split across two separate criteria - recruited for a demonstrable skill shortage (criterion 3) and employed 2+ years (criterion 5) - each capped at one place per form of entry per year group (8 places). Darwen Vale is described as a non-selective secondary academy; no sixth form admission arrangements are included in this document.
Published by the admission authority. Meeting a criterion never guarantees a place — it sets the order places are offered in. Full detail, other entry points and previous years are on the Admissions tab.
Same phase, ranked by distance and how closely they match.
Blackburn Central High School
secondary · 2.8 km away
Witton Park Academy
secondary · Needs attention · 3.5 km away
Pleckgate High School
secondary · Outstanding · 5.9 km away
Parklands High School
secondary · Good · 12.5 km away
Lostock Hall Academy
secondary · Good · 13.2 km away
Albany Academy
secondary · Good · 12.0 km away
This school hasn't claimed its profile yet, so it can't receive enquiries here. Leave your details and we'll pass them on if the school joins School Atlas.