St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy (formerly St Wilfrid's Church of England High School) is a mixed

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

located in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

in the

English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. It is named after Saint Wilfrid, a former

archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

. Originally located over two sites on Duckworth and Byrom Streets, construction of a new combined campus on Duckworth Street began in December 2001 and was completed in January 2004. Previously a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

administered by

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is the local authority of Blackburn with Darwen in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. Since 1998 it has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a co ...

and the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Diocese of Blackburn, St Wilfrid's Church of England High School achieved academy status in July 2011, and was renamed St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy. The school is now independent of local authority, but still administered by the diocese. It continues to coordinate with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council for admissions. Olivier Award nominee Theatre Director, Amy Leach (alumni 1992-1999). The Apprentice UK contender and Celebrity Big Brother 19 housemate Jessica Cunningham attended St Wilfrid's after switching from private School Westholme School, also in Blackburn. Vicki Michael replaced Catherine Huddleston as principal in Summer 2022. The school offers

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

and BTEC programmes, while students in the sixth form may study from a range of

A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

s and further BTECs.

References

External links

St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy official website
Secondary schools in Blackburn with Darwen Schools in Blackburn Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Blackburn Academies in Blackburn with Darwen {{Lancashire-school-stub