tutorperch
First Tutors closed Read guide

State secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness

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

Westmorland and Furness has 20 state secondaries, 11 of them with sixth forms, 1 grammar school among them. 96.4% of families got their first choice last year, better than most of England. Results run from 21.9% to 87.5% passing English and maths, a spread of 66 points, with a middle school at 40.9%, below England's 45.4%.

Of those Ofsted has graded, 15 Good, 1 Requires improvement. 4 schools carry no overall grade at all — either inspected since Ofsted stopped issuing one in September 2024, or never inspected.

20 schools in Westmorland and Furness. Tap one, or see the full list.
22% 88% passed English & maths

Westmorland and Furness against England

State-funded schools, 2024/25

42%

Passed English & maths grade 5 or above

3.1% below England

England 45%

45.4

Attainment 8 average score

in line with England

England 46.1

21%

Persistently absent missed 10% of sessions

in line with England

England 21%

Getting a place

2026/27 secondary admissions round, across Westmorland and Furness

96.4%

Got their first choiceof those who applied

England 84%

99.5%

Got one of their threefirst, second or third

0%

Got no offer at allfrom any preference

52%

Appeals upheld17 of 33 heard

These are figures for Westmorland and Furness 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 Westmorland and Furness's 20 schools, the share passing English and maths runs from 22% to 88%. That is a spread of 66 percentage points, wider than most councils.

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.

Westmorland and Furness 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 sciencephysicshistorygeographydesign technologychemistrybiologyartfood technologyphysical educationreligious studiescomputer sciencespanishbusiness studiesfrench
  1. 1 Appleby Grammar School Appleby-in-Westmorland · 21 entries 100%
  2. 2 Ullswater Community College Penrith · 52 entries 100%
  3. 3 Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith Penrith · 118 entries 100%
  4. 4 The Lakes School Windermere · 29 entries 100%
  5. 5 The Queen Katherine School Kendal · 32 entries 100%
  6. 6 Chetwynde School Barrow-in-Furness · 25 entries 100%
  7. 7 Kirkbie Kendal School Kendal · 57 entries 98%
  8. 8 Ulverston Victoria High School Ulverston · 34 entries 97%
  9. 9 Queen Elizabeth School · 65 entries 97%
  10. 10 St Bernards Catholic High School, Barrow Barrow-in-Furness · 27 entries 89%
  11. 11 Cartmel Priory CofE School Grange-over-Sands · 26 entries 88%
  12. 12 Queen Elizabeth Studio School · 20 entries 85%
  13. 13 Dallam School Cumbria · 49 entries 82%
  14. 14 Kirkby Stephen Grammar School Kirkby Stephen · 46 entries 80%
  15. 15 Walney School Barrow-in-Furness · 33 entries 76%
  16. 16 Dowdales School Dalton-in-Furness · 40 entries 68%
  17. 17 Furness Academy Barrow-in-Furness · 166 entries 35%
chemistry tutors

Parent guides

Thinking about a tutor?

Every school in Westmorland and Furness

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

2 of 20 have no spare places. Sort the list, or narrow it first.

  • Appleby Grammar School Appleby-in-Westmorland · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    30%
    Attainment 8
    40.7
    Absence
    21%
  • Cartmel Priory CofE School Grange-over-Sands · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    38%
    Attainment 8
    47.2
    Absence
    15%
  • Chetwynde School Barrow-in-Furness · Good.
    Eng & maths
    46%
    Attainment 8
    44.2
    Absence
    20%
  • Dallam School Cumbria · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    35%
    Attainment 8
    44.1
    Absence
    24%
  • Dowdales School Dalton-in-Furness · Good.
    Eng & maths
    26%
    Attainment 8
    41.8
    Absence
    29%
  • Furness Academy Barrow-in-Furness · Good.
    Eng & maths
    36%
    Attainment 8
    42.4
    Absence
    22%
  • John Ruskin School Coniston · Good.
    Eng & maths
    50%
    Attainment 8
    52.9
    Absence
    13%
  • Kirkbie Kendal School Kendal · Good.
    Eng & maths
    57%
    Attainment 8
    50.1
    Absence
    16%
  • Kirkby Stephen Grammar School Kirkby Stephen · Good.
    Eng & maths
    41%
    Attainment 8
    47.7
    Absence
    13%
  • Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith Penrith · Good.
    Eng & maths
    88%
    Attainment 8
    64.8
    Absence
    7%
  • Queen Elizabeth School Good.
    Eng & maths
    69%
    Attainment 8
    59.6
    Absence
    19%
  • Queen Elizabeth Studio School Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    30%
    Attainment 8
    37.8
    Absence
    24%
  • Samuel King's School Alston · Good.
    Eng & maths
    23%
    Attainment 8
    30.2
    Absence
    34%
  • Settlebeck School Sedbergh · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    44%
    Attainment 8
    44
    Absence
    20%
  • St Bernards Catholic High School, Barrow Barrow-in-Furness · Good.
    Eng & maths
    23%
    Attainment 8
    34.6
    Absence
    26%
  • The Lakes School Windermere · Good.
    Eng & maths
    42%
    Attainment 8
    46.8
    Absence
    18%
  • The Queen Katherine School Kendal · Inspected under the current report card, which gives no overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    50%
    Attainment 8
    48.8
    Absence
    19%
  • Ullswater Community College Penrith · Good.
    Eng & maths
    44%
    Attainment 8
    41
    Absence
    24%
  • Ulverston Victoria High School Ulverston · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade. · no spare places
    Eng & maths
    37%
    Attainment 8
    46.8
    Absence
    23%
  • Walney School Barrow-in-Furness · Inspected, after Ofsted stopped issuing a single overall grade.
    Eng & maths
    22%
    Attainment 8
    38.7
    Absence
    25%

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 Westmorland and Furness

11 of Westmorland and Furness's 11 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 Westmorland and Furness

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.

County Durham 30 schools · 42% passed English & mathsCumberland 19 schools · 37% passed English & mathsLancashire 81 schools · 44% passed English & mathsNorth Yorkshire 41 schools · 47% passed English & mathsNorthumberland 16 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.