Unity College

Unity College

Address: Townley Holmes, Burnley, Lancashire, BB11 3DF Unique reference number (URN): 135003

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders' appropriate and timely actions to improve the school since the previous inspection have had a considerable, positive impact on pupils' academic and wider development. The improvements in some pupils’ rates of attendance, overall standards of behaviour, the quality of teaching and how well some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, achieve in national assessments are strong evidence of leaders' impact to date.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff, including early career teachers, feel well supported. They appreciate the actions leaders have taken to support them to manage their workload during a period of change and recovery. Teachers value leaders’ emphasis on their professional learning, which provides them with formal opportunities to develop and hone their practice. In partnership with leaders, governors have ensured that they are informed about the school’s areas for development. They are increasingly strategic and provide an appropriate balance of support and challenge. Governors care deeply about improving the life chances of young people in the local area. When making changes to policy and practice, leaders and governors make decisions that are in the best interests of pupils.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders are successfully working to earn the trust of more parents and carers, while also strengthening the school’s links within the local community. For example, leaders have ensured that there are more opportunities for parents to engage with staff and learn about the range of support available through external agencies. However, a minority of parents are less positive about some of the recent changes to the school’s behaviour policy.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

While carefully considering the challenges that young people may face in the local community, leaders have designed a personal development programme that meets pupils’ needs and raises their aspirations. The school’s values, which aim to promote equality and instil respect and tolerance for all, underpin the programme.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The dedicated pastoral team works in partnership with families and a wide range of external agencies, including counselling services, to ensure that concerns about pupils’ welfare are recognised and responded to quickly. Well-trained staff deliver the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum so that pupils develop an age-related understanding of respectful relationships and the characteristics that are protected by law. Pupils also learn about the importance of looking after their mental health, the dangers of drug and alcohol misuse and how to make informed choices about relationships.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils demonstrate an increasing understanding of fundamental British values. The way in which most pupils interact respectfully with their peers day to day, confidently reporting any discriminatory behaviour to staff, reflects this. However, a small proportion of pupils demonstrate an immature understanding of these principles.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils enjoy a wealth of activities outside of the structured curriculum. These extra-curricular clubs and pursuits support pupils to become more independent, develop their talents and

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Needs attention

foster new interests. A comprehensive careers programme supports pupils to prepare for interviews and make informed decisions about their next steps.

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Needs attention

Leaders provide opportunities for pupils to develop their personal and social skills through a range of physical activities, school productions and visits. Staff check on pupils’ engagement with these experiences so that all pupils can benefit from the school’s offer. Leaders remove barriers that prevent pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils from taking part. For example, leaders provide financial support for those disadvantaged pupils who want to learn a musical instrument so that they can access tuition within school.

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Achievement Needs attention

Remaining disparities in the quality of teaching, alongside gaps in some pupils’ knowledge of basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics, mean that some pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are unable to build securely on previous learning. This prevents them from achieving as well as they could and limits how well these pupils perform in national assessments. The school's published outcomes reflect that pupils' overall rates of attainment remain below where they should be. Further improvements in the quality of teaching are required to ensure that pupils achieve consistently well.

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Achievement Needs attention

Following leaders' appropriate action to further develop the quality of teaching, they have secured some improvements in how well pupils achieve. For example, published outcomes show that disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as other disadvantaged pupils nationally in national assessments. Increasingly, more pupils leave school with sufficient qualifications to move on to their next stage of education, employment and/or training with success.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders have secured some improvements to pupils' overall rates of attendance by using a more strategic approach and strengthening relationships with families. This is especially the case for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, pupils’ overall rates of attendance remain below national averages. In particular, the attendance rates for some groups of pupils, including many disadvantaged pupils in key stage 4, remain too low. This is having a negative impact on how well these pupils achieve in national assessments.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Pupils and staff share the view that pupils’ behaviour is improving and that there are higher expectations of pupils’ behaviour, which are more commonly understood. Those pupils who find it difficult to behave well benefit from a range of interventions and targeted support from staff. Over time, this helps pupils to make better choices and be ready to learn. Overall, pupils know that staff will deal with bullying effectively. During lessons, most pupils understand what staff expect from them. They follow instructions and value the help and care that they receive from their teachers. Mostly, staff apply the school’s behaviour systems consistently well and the atmosphere around the school is calm.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have designed a suitably ambitious curriculum. They are clear about those aspects of curriculum delivery that need to develop further. Through their prioritisation of high-quality professional learning for staff, they have already secured several improvements to the quality of teaching. For instance, staff are increasingly well equipped to skilfully design suitable learning activities. However, these improvements are not sufficiently embedded to have a sustained and positive impact across the curriculum.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

There remain some inconsistencies in how successfully staff deliver the curriculum. For example, there is variation in how well teachers check what pupils know and remember. This hinders some pupils when they come to apply previously taught curriculum content to new concepts and ideas. Increasingly, teachers are becoming more adept at adapting their delivery of the curriculum to meet the individual needs of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, the support that some pupils receive does not help them to achieve well.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders ensure that pupils who join the school with gaps in their reading and mathematical knowledge receive appropriate support. Staff provide carefully designed interventions to help these pupils to catch up. Nonetheless, the support for those pupils who have gaps in their spelling or handwriting knowledge is at an earlier stage. Consequently, deficits in pupils’ knowledge and skills hinder their learning of the curriculum.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders have reviewed and improved their systems to identify those pupils who need support. However, these systems are not consistently effective in identifying some pupils’ needs and other barriers to learning with sufficient accuracy. Some pupils, including some of those who speak English as an additional language, do not receive the help they need quickly enough, and this hinders their progress through the academic curriculum.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Increasingly, teachers provide personalised support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who may face other barriers to their learning. Leaders’ use of pupil premium funding is informed by appropriate evidence and aligned with their priorities. Staff provide effective support for disadvantaged pupils, such as practical help with uniform and equipment. This helps pupils to feel that they belong and are ready to learn. Staff are dedicated to building trust with families. They know pupils well, routinely seeking their views about the support they receive.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders and staff support pupils who are known or who have previously been known to social care well. Leaders have forged strong and effective links with external partners, ensuring that these pupils receive timely help when needed. They use alternative provision appropriately, maintaining a close oversight of these pupils’ welfare, education and personal development.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils know that adults in Unity College will look after them. They say that staff, such as their form tutors, the committed pastoral team or those staff wearing green lanyards, will listen and help them when needed. Pupils are confident that hurtful, discriminatory behaviour or bullying will be acted on promptly. This fosters a culture where pupils feel safe.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils say that the way in which staff manage behaviour has improved. Older pupils agree that standards of behaviour are better than when they were in Year 7 or Year 8. Each morning, pupils appreciate being able to borrow uniform and equipment so that they are ready to learn. Increasing clarity about the expectations for pupils’ behaviour and the more consistent application of routines in classrooms mean that typically, pupils can focus on their learning. Those pupils who struggle to manage their behaviour receive personalised support to improve their conduct. Most pupils move around school sensibly. They enjoy chatting with their friends at social times.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Many pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), enjoy learning. They listen keenly to their teachers. However, while improving, their learning experiences and the support they receive across classrooms vary in quality. Remaining inconsistencies in teaching mean that some pupils struggle to remember and apply what they have been taught already. This has a negative impact on their achievement.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils benefit from activities beyond the classroom that help to develop their leadership skills, such as by acting as sports leaders, school leaders or working towards the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Pupils enjoy the sports clubs on offer and other groups, such as drama and debating clubs. Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils receive the support they need to join in with the enrichment opportunities on offer. Even though leaders have worked to increase pupils’ rates of participation, some pupils do not attend school regularly enough. This prevents them from benefiting from these opportunities and hinders their academic progress.

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Next steps

Leaders should maintain their improvements in pupils’ rates of attendance, particularly for disadvantaged pupils in key stage 4. Leaders should ensure that those pupils without the necessary basic knowledge and skills in reading, writing and mathematics receive appropriate support to overcome gaps in their learning and make stronger progress across the curriculum. Leaders should improve further the quality of curriculum delivery and how well teachers use assessment strategies so that pupils acquire, retain and apply the knowledge intended by the curriculum. Leaders should strengthen further their systems to identify pupils' additional needs, particularly for those pupils who speak English as an additional language, so that any barriers are accurately identified, ensuring that support is timely, matched to pupils’ needs and reviewed regularly.

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Team inspectors:

Emma Jackson, Ofsted Inspector Paula Crawley, Ofsted Inspector Chris Meldrum, Ofsted Inspector Helen McGarry, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 15 September 2026

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Lucy Whitehall.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

This inspection took place on 15 and 16 September 2026.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, other senior leaders, staff and pupils. The lead inspector spoke with 5 members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority. An inspector spoke with the headteacher of the virtual school at the local authority.

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About this inspection

The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school currently makes use of 3 alternative provisions, all of which are registered.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support. National average: 3.53%

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational needs support at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English indices of deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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English and maths GCSE

Percentage of pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Attainment 8

A measure of pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Progress 8

How much progress pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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national average

2023/24 (final) -0.21 -0.03 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils achieving grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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national average

2024/25 (final) 26.9% 25.8% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (final) 17.0% 25.8% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (final) 18.1% 25.2% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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national average

2024/25 (final) 34.8 34.9 Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (final) 30.1 34.6 Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (final) 31.8 35.0 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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national average

2023/24 (final) -0.86 -0.57 Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (final) -0.69 -0.57 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Destinations after 16

Percentage of pupils staying in education or employment for at least 2 terms after the end of secondary school (key stage 4).

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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