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

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

and

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

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 Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. It is named after

Saint Wilfrid Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and ...

, a former

archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. 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 mo ...

administered by

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is the local authority of Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. From 2020 to 2021, the Mayor of Blackb ...

and the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Diocese of Blackburn The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created on 12 November 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley, the cities of Lancas ...

, 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.

The Apprentice UK ''The Apprentice'' is a British business-styled reality game show created by Mark Burnett, distributed by Fremantle and broadcast by the BBC since 16 February 2005. Devised after the success of the American original and part of the internatio ...

contender and

Celebrity Big Brother 19 ''Celebrity Big Brother 19'', also known as ''Celebrity Big Brother: All-Stars vs. New Stars'', was the nineteenth series of the British reality television series ''Celebrity Big Brother'', hosted by Emma Willis and narrated by Marcus Bentley. ...

housemate

Jessica Cunningham Jessica Cunningham (born 3 March 1987) is a businesswoman, actress, model and television personality, best known for competing in the 2016 series of '' The Apprentice'', coming fourth. She is also known for her appearance as a contestant on '' ...

attended St Wilfrid's after switching from private School

Westholme School Westholme School is a coeducational private school in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Founded in 1923, it caters for boys and girls aged from 3 years to 18 years. The school became fully coeducational in 2018. Westholme's motto is ‘MENS SA ...

, 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 particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

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 aut ...

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