Secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness

There are 20 secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness, teaching 13,826 pupils. Of the 20 with a score, 3 do better than similar schools elsewhere in England and 9 do worse.

Best in England Primary schools in Westmorland and Furness All schools in Westmorland and Furness Places within

Pupils from low-income families17%average across these schools

Doing better than similar schools3 of 20scored schools in the top two bands

New-style Ofsted report cards5inspected since November 2025

Good or outstanding (old grades)11of those still on old grades

Full or nearly full5 of 20schools with 98% or more of places taken

Average class size21.5one-teacher classes, January census

Well aboveAboveIn lineBelowWell belowNot scored

Getting a place in Westmorland and Furness

From Westmorland and Furness council's allocation figures for 2026 entry: 19 secondary schools, 0 of which filled on distance and 13 offered a place to everyone who applied. Every school's page has a postcode check.

Places to spare

Every applicant was offered a place.

Ullswater Community College 164 offers for 300 places
Walney Academy 64 offers for 180 places
The Queen Katherine School 132 offers for 241 places
Dallam School 97 offers for 180 places
The Lakes School 65 offers for 129 places
St Bernards Catholic High School, Barrow 132 offers for 170 places
Dowdales School 174 offers for 210 places
Ulverston Victoria High School 170 offers for 186 places
Kirkby Stephen Grammar School 51 offers for 64 places
Appleby Grammar School 77 offers for 90 places
Settlebeck School 33 offers for 44 places
Cartmel Priory CofE School 71 offers for 76 places

Source: Westmorland and Furness council (allocation statistics). Councils we hold this for.

Secondary schools (20)

Ranked by score, highest first. The likely range shows how sure we can be. If two schools' ranges overlap, don't read it as one beating the other. Click a column heading to sort, or hover a row to find it on the map.

#	School	Pupils	Low income	Ofsted	Score	Likely range
1	Queen Elizabeth Grammar School PenrithAcademy (grammar) · ages 11-18 · Penrith	1,026	5%	Good 2023	87	83 to 91
2	Queen Elizabeth SchoolAcademy · ages 11-18	1,155	8%	Good 2022	80	74 to 85
3	John Ruskin SchoolCouncil · ages 11-16 · Coniston	247	11%	Good 2019	73	62 to 81
4	Kirkby Stephen Grammar SchoolAcademy · ages 11-18 · Kirkby Stephen	377	21%	Good 2024	64	50 to 74
5	The Queen Katherine SchoolAcademy · ages 11-19 · Kendal	910	17%	Report card 2026	63	52 to 71
6	Kirkbie Kendal SchoolAcademy · ages 11-18 · Kendal	1,029	16%	Good 2024	58	47 to 68
7	Settlebeck SchoolAcademy · ages 11-16 · Sedbergh	203	13%	No overall grade 2025	50	35 to 65
8	The Lakes SchoolCouncil · ages 11-18 · Windermere	445	17%	Good 2019	49	37 to 61
9	Ullswater Community CollegeFoundation · ages 11-18 · Penrith	1,520	21%	Good 2023	46	36 to 56
10	Ulverston Victoria High SchoolCouncil · ages 11-18 · Ulverston	1,319	16%	No overall grade 2025	40	30 to 50
11	Chetwynde SchoolFree school · ages 3-16 · Barrow-in-Furness	508	17%	Good 2023	39	27 to 52
12	Furness AcademyAcademy · ages 11-16 · Barrow-in-Furness	1,187	29%	Good 2023	31	23 to 41
13	Cartmel Priory CofE SchoolAcademy · ages 11-16 · Grange-over-Sands	371	14%	Report card 2026	31	21 to 43
14	Appleby Grammar SchoolAcademy · ages 11-18 · Appleby-in-Westmorland	357	18%	Report card 2026	29	20 to 42
15	Samuel King's SchoolFoundation · ages 11-16 · Alston	113	19%	Good 2022	26	14 to 47
16	Queen Elizabeth Studio SchoolStudio schools · ages 14-19	329	9%	Report card 2026	24	18 to 33
17	Dowdales SchoolCouncil · ages 11-16 · Dalton-in-Furness	877	21%	Not inspected	23	18 to 32
18	Dallam SchoolAcademy · ages 11-18 · Cumbria	761	15%	Report card 2026	18	13 to 23
19	St Bernards Catholic High School, BarrowAcademy · ages 11-16 · Barrow-in-Furness	624	28%	Good 2022	14	10 to 19
20	Walney AcademyAcademy · ages 11-16 · Barrow-in-Furness	468	28%	No overall grade 2025	5	3 to 7

Secondary schools by town in Westmorland and Furness

Alston1 schools Appleby-in-Westmorland1 schools Barrow-in-Furness4 schools Cumbria1 schools Dalton-in-Furness1 schools Grange-over-Sands1 schools Kendal2 schools Penrith2 schools Sedbergh1 schools Ulverston1 schools Windermere1 schools

Secondary schools in nearby areas

Lancashire83 schools Manchester32 schools Liverpool33 schools Cheshire West and Chester20 schools Cumberland19 schools Cheshire East23 schools Bolton20 schools Wigan19 schools Wirral20 schools Salford17 schools Stockport14 schools Oldham14 schools

About this list

Schools are listed by their School Chooser Score, highest first. Schools without a score (independent schools and those with too little published data) come after, in alphabetical order. The score compares each school with schools that have a similar mix of pupils, not just with each other, so a school with a lower score in a wealthier area may still have better exam results. How the score works.