West Cumbria Learning Centre
West Cumbria Learning Centre is a pupil referral unit in Workington for boys and girls aged 7 to 16. It has 50 pupils. About 62 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was requires improvement, back in 2023.
Toll Bar, Distington, Workington, CA14 4PJ01946 834848westcumbrialearningcentre.co.ukMr Daniel Gee headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 28 June 2023, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Requires improvement overall.
Earlier inspections (1)
| Date | Type | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 9 December 2021 | Ungraded | School remains Good (Concerns) - S5 Next |
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Cumberland council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: emotional and mental health (38), Autistic spectrum disorder (7), Specific learning difficulty (4), Other difficulty or disability (1).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 50 | 46 | 44 | 26 | 18 | 21 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 62% | 65% | 71% | 58% | 83% | 71% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 0% | 2% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 70% | 80% | 81% | 50% | 52% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 30% | 21% | 19% | 50% | 48% |
What pupils do next
After GCSEs
Where the 10 pupils who left in 2022/23 were a year later.
Earlier years
| Destination | 2022/23 leavers | 2021/22 leavers | 2020/21 leavers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still in education, work or training | 40% | 60% | 17% |
| Education | 30% | 50% | 17% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 10% | 0% |
| Work | 10% | 0% | 0% |
| Not in education, work or training | 30% | 20% | 67% |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other primary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakes College - West Cumbria | Further education | 630 m | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Distington Community School | Council | 960 m | 114 | Good 2019 | 16 | Compare |
| Energy Coast UTC | University technical college | 1.0 miles | 383 | Good 2023 | 4 | Compare |
| Beckstone Primary School | Council | 1.2 miles | 375 | Good 2023 | 40 | Compare |
| Branthwaite Academy | Free school | 1.2 miles | 74 | No overall grade 2024 | – | Compare |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School | Roman Catholic | 1.4 miles | 209 | Good 2022 | 64 | Compare |
| Westfield Nursery and Primary School | Council | 1.8 miles | 160 | Good 2023 | 35 | Compare |
| St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Workington | Academy | 1.9 miles | 183 | Not inspected | 12 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is West Cumbria Learning Centre a good school?
West Cumbria Learning Centre doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it requires improvement at its last inspection in June 2023.
What is West Cumbria Learning Centre's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated West Cumbria Learning Centre requires improvement at its last full inspection on 28 June 2023.
How many pupils does West Cumbria Learning Centre have?
50 pupils aged 7 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Toll Bar, Distington, Workington, CA14 4PJ
- Telephone
- 01946 834848
- Website
- www.westcumbrialearningcentre.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mr Daniel Gee
- Type of school
- Pupil referral unit (Pupil referral unit, local authority maintained schools)
- Phase
- Pupil referral unit / alternative provision, ages 7-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Ward
- Harrington
- Constituency
- Whitehaven and Workington
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 112096 · LAESTAB 9421103 · UKPRN 10017443
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.