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State secondary schools in Cumberland

19 schools · North West · 2024/25 Department for Education figures

Cumberland has 19 state secondaries, 16 of them with sixth forms. 95.3% of families got their first choice last year, better than most of England. Results run from 8.3% to 57.8% passing English and maths, a spread of 50 points, with a middle school at 32.9%, below England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 1 rated Outstanding, 10 Good, 1 Requires improvement. 7 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

19 schools in Cumberland. Tap one, or see the full list.
8% 58% passed English & maths

Cumberland against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

37%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

8.9% below England

England 45%

42.3

Attainment 8 average score

3.8 below England

England 46.1

22%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

in line with England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Cumberland

95.3%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

98.9%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

0%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

45%

Appeals upheld22 of 49 heard

These are figures for Cumberland as a whole. A popular school can be much harder to get into than the average suggests, and the criteria that decide it are set by each school's own admission authority rather than centrally. How applying works

How much the choice matters here

Across Cumberland's 19 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 8% to 58%. That is a spread of 50 percentage points, about typical.

The typical council spans about 48 points. Where schools are close together the school a child gets matters less; where they are far apart it matters a great deal. The widest spreads are all selective areas, where grammar schools sit at one end and everything else at the other.

Cumberland schools, subject by subject

The share reaching grade 4 or above, among schools entering at least 20 pupils. Which pupils take a subject differs a lot between schools, so read this as what happened rather than as a ranking of teaching.

mathsenglish literatureenglish languagecombined sciencehistorygeographyphysicschemistrybiologyartbusiness studiesphysical educationfrenchdesign technologyspanishreligious studiescomputer sciencephotography
  1. 1 Keswick School Keswick · 192 entries 85%
  2. 2 The Nelson Thomlinson School Wigton · 193 entries 81%
  3. 3 Cockermouth School Cockermouth · 222 entries 79%
  4. 4 Millom School Millom · 78 entries 69%
  5. 5 St John Henry Newman Catholic School Carlisle · 121 entries 68%
  6. 6 Caldew School Carlisle · 167 entries 67%
  7. 7 Richard Rose Central Academy Carlisle · 175 entries 66%
  8. 8 William Howard School Brampton · 204 entries 66%
  9. 9 West Lakes Academy Egremont · 177 entries 64%
  10. 10 Netherhall School Maryport · 146 entries 64%
  11. 11 Workington Academy Workington · 175 entries 63%
  12. 12 Trinity School Carlisle · 261 entries 59%
  13. 13 Richard Rose Morton Academy Carlisle · 172 entries 58%
  14. 14 Solway Community School Wigton · 23 entries 57%
  15. 15 St Benedict's Catholic High School Whitehaven · 148 entries 55%
  16. 16 The Whitehaven Academy Whitehaven · 125 entries 55%
  17. 17 St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington Workington · 86 entries 55%
  18. 18 Energy Coast UTC Workington · 128 entries 48%
  19. 19 Beacon Hill Community School Wigton · 28 entries 46%
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Every school in Cumberland

Schools in neighbouring authorities are not in this list, because admissions run per authority. See bordering areas.

2 of 19 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

Pick up to 4 schools to see them side by side in the comparison tool, subject by subject.

Sixth form · Key stage 5·2024/25

A levels in Cumberland

13 of Cumberland's 16 sixth forms publish A level results. Ranked on the share reaching AAB or better in at least two of the subjects universities name, which is the measure the steepest entry requirements are written in.

Sixth form Grade AAB+

A level results only. A sixth form running mostly BTECs and other applied courses will show a dash here and can still be the right one — those are graded on their own scale, where a distinction and an A grade carry the same points and mean different things.

Bordering Cumberland

Near a boundary, schools on both sides are usually in reach. Whether a child can apply is set by each school's admission criteria, not by the border.

Northumberland 16 schools · 42% passed English & mathsWestmorland and Furness 20 schools · 42% passed English & maths

What these mean

Attainment 8
The average pupil's total score across eight GCSE-equivalent subjects, with English and maths counting double. It is scored out of 90. A score of 50 is roughly equivalent to achieving a grade 5 across eight subjects.
Grades 4 and 5
GCSEs are graded from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass and broadly corresponds to the old grade C; grade 5 is what the government calls a strong pass. Grade 7 is broadly equivalent to an old grade A.
Persistent absence
The share of pupils who miss at least 10% of their possible sessions during the school year. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absence, so illness and other authorised reasons are included. Persistent absence has remained substantially higher than its pre-pandemic level.
First preference
The share of families who were offered the school they ranked first on their application, on national offer day in March. This figure is calculated across the relevant schools or admissions authority, so a high overall figure does not necessarily mean that every individual school is easy to get into.
Spare places
The amount of available capacity a school has compared with the number of pupils on roll. This is different from oversubscription: spare places measure whether a school has capacity, whereas oversubscription describes demand for places exceeding the number available. A school with no spare places may be popular, but a small school can also be full without receiving a large number of applications.
Average A-level grade
The average grade achieved across students' A-level entries. This is different from measures such as the proportion achieving AAB or better in two or more facilitating subjects, which are sometimes used to indicate higher attainment and university-entry performance.
Covers state-funded schools in England; independent schools are not included, and neither the list nor the subject figures above take account of them.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Key stage 4 performance and school characteristics: Department for Education, 2024/25. Inspection outcomes: Ofsted.