Which school has the best GCSE results in Cumbria?

On 2026 Attainment 8, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith tops the table in Cumbria with 65.2, against an England average of 46.2. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so compare a school's grade 5+ pass rate and, where published, its Progress 8 before reading the rank as a verdict.

When are the 2026 GCSE results for Cumbria schools published?

Pupils receive their results in August, but school-by-school figures come from the DfE performance tables, which publish provisional results in the autumn (usually mid-October) and revised figures early in the new year. This table shows 2026 results, the 2025/26 academic year, and updates when the next release is imported.

What is Attainment 8?

Attainment 8 is the DfE's headline GCSE measure: the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight qualifications, with English and maths counted twice. A score of 50 means pupils averaged roughly a grade 5 across those subjects. No Progress 8 exists for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021.

Why does a school in Cumbria show no GCSE results?

A school has no published figure when it had no Year 11 cohort in the year (a new school, or one that opened with younger year groups), when it converted to an academy and the DfE published results under its previous identity, or when it is independent and its pupils sat IGCSE, Pre-U or IB qualifications that the DfE tables do not count. Independent schools with a published figure are listed separately and unranked for that reason.

Cumbria GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

39 state secondary schools in Cumbria ranked on their 2026 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2025/26 academic year, the latest DfE has published for every school), with grade 7+, grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, cohort size for each school against the England average. 5 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

County 39 state secondary schools 2025/26 results

Secondary schools in Cumbria ranked on Attainment 8

39 of 39 schools have published 2026 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2025/26.

Secondary schools in Cumbria ranked on Attainment 8, 2026 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Grade 7+ English & maths	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.2	14%	46%	65%	–	–
1	Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith Penrith · Academy converter	65.2	39%	85%	94%	–	158
2	Queen Elizabeth School Academy converter	58.4	21%	70%	89%	–	126
3 , up 1 place since 2025	Keswick School Keswick · Academy converter	50.9	12%	55%	78%	–	203
4 , up 4 places since 2025	Kirkby Stephen Grammar School Kirkby Stephen · Academy converter	50.2	17%	67%	80%	–	54
5 , up 4 places since 2025	Cartmel Priory CofE School Grange-over-Sands · Academy converter	49.8	9%	46%	68%	–	69
6 , up 1 place since 2025	The Queen Katherine School Kendal · Academy converter	49.3	13%	44%	62%	–	122
7 , up 3 places since 2025	Ulverston Victoria High School Ulverston · Community school	48.3	8%	44%	72%	–	212
8 , down 3 places since 2025	Cockermouth School Cockermouth · Academy converter	47.9	11%	47%	65%	–	213
9 , down 3 places since 2025	Kirkbie Kendal School Kendal · Academy converter	47.5	10%	47%	73%	–	190
10 , down 7 places since 2025	John Ruskin School Coniston · Community school	46.0	4%	38%	60%	–	48
11 , up 7 places since 2025	Settlebeck School Sedbergh · Academy converter	45.7	3%	46%	69%	–	39
12 , up 5 places since 2025	Dallam School Cumbria · Academy converter	44.1	8%	38%	61%	–	161
13 , up 11 places since 2025	St Benedict's Catholic High School Whitehaven · Voluntary aided school	43.8	11%	40%	59%	–	156
14 , down 2 places since 2025	The Nelson Thomlinson School Wigton · Voluntary controlled school	43.1	7%	36%	58%	–	197
15 , up 15 places since 2025	The Whitehaven Academy Whitehaven · Academy sponsor led	43.0	9%	38%	61%	–	101
16 , down 2 places since 2025	Millom School Millom · Community school	42.5	3%	38%	63%	–	94
17 , up 4 places since 2025	Richard Rose Central Academy Carlisle · Academy sponsor led	42.4	3%	37%	60%	–	155
18 , down 8 places since 2025	The Lakes School Windermere · Community school	42.1	4%	37%	57%	–	76
19 , down 6 places since 2025	William Howard School Brampton · Academy converter	42.0	6%	37%	58%	–	219
20 , up 10 places since 2025	Netherhall School Maryport · Community school	41.7	5%	28%	50%	–	134
21 , down 2 places since 2025	Richard Rose Morton Academy Carlisle · Academy sponsor led	41.5	4%	32%	58%	–	167
22	Dowdales School Dalton-in-Furness · Community school	41.1	5%	35%	51%	–	148
23 , up 6 places since 2025	Workington Academy Workington · Academy sponsor led	40.9	3%	34%	56%	–	214
24 , down 4 places since 2025	Furness Academy Barrow-in-Furness · Academy sponsor led	40.8	5%	32%	53%	–	221
25 , up 3 places since 2025	Appleby Grammar School Appleby-in-Westmorland · Academy converter	40.7	7%	34%	52%	–	62
26= , down 11 places since 2025	Caldew School Carlisle · Academy converter	40.5	2%	23%	52%	–	168
26= , up 6 places since 2025	Walney Academy Barrow-in-Furness · Academy sponsor led	40.5	1%	27%	53%	–	110
28 , up 5 places since 2025	Queen Elizabeth Studio School Studio schools	40.0	0%	36%	63%	–	124
29 , down 2 places since 2025	West Lakes Academy Egremont · Academy sponsor led	39.6	3%	32%	47%	–	193
30 , down 5 places since 2025	Ullswater Community College Penrith · Foundation school	39.5	2%	35%	57%	–	256
31 , down 8 places since 2025	Trinity School Carlisle · Academy converter	39.4	4%	29%	49%	–	260
32 , down 7 places since 2025	St John Henry Newman Catholic School Carlisle · Voluntary aided school	38.9	4%	27%	50%	–	138
33= , down 17 places since 2025	Chetwynde School Barrow-in-Furness · Free schools	38.5	4%	26%	54%	–	50
33= , up 3 places since 2025	St Bernards Catholic High School, Barrow Barrow-in-Furness · Academy converter	38.5	6%	33%	54%	–	116
35 , up 3 places since 2025	Beacon Hill Community School Wigton · Community school	37.5	3%	33%	53%	–	30
36 , down 2 places since 2025	St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington Workington · Academy converter	36.8	4%	25%	47%	–	114
37 , down 2 places since 2025	Solway Community School Wigton · Community school	31.8	0%	10%	33%	–	30
38 , down 1 place since 2025	Samuel King's School Alston · Foundation school	30.2	0%	0%	15%	–	13
39	Energy Coast UTC Workington · University technical college	22.5	0%	9%	28%	–	108

Schools with the same Attainment 8 score share a rank (shown as "=").

Under each rank: the change since the 2025 table, in places gained (+) or lost (−). No figure means the rank is unchanged or the school had no ranked 2025 result.

Independent schools in Cumbria with published GCSE results

Listed as published, not ranked. The DfE tables count only reformed GCSEs, so a school whose pupils sit IGCSE, Pre-U or the IB reports a lower figure than its results merit, or none at all. Compare independent schools on their own published examination results and inspection reports.

School	Attainment 8 (as published)	Grade 5+ English & maths	Pupils
Austin Friars Carlisle · Other independent school	37.9	0%	32
Moorfield Learning Centre Other independent school · 2023 results	14.7	0%	6
Sedbergh School Sedbergh (La10 5hg) · Other independent school	39.5	0%	109
St Bees School Other independent school · 2024 results	2.2	0%	19
Windermere School The Lake District · Other independent school	24.5	0%	30

How to read this table

Attainment 8 is the average points a school's pupils achieved across eight GCSE subjects: English and maths (double-weighted), three EBacc subjects (sciences, computing, history, geography, languages) and three further approved qualifications. The DfE publishes it for every state school; the England average for 2026 was 46.2.

Grade 7+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching the top grades, 7 to 9, in both; grade 5+ is the "strong pass"; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". The DfE stopped publishing EBacc entry and the EBacc average point score from the 2025/26 results, so that column is empty for 2026.

Progress 8 is not shown: the DfE published no Progress 8 for 2026 because these pupils sat no Key Stage 2 tests in 2021, the baseline it is measured from. Attainment 8 rewards intake as well as teaching, so a selective school will usually top an attainment-only table.

Ranks are shared where scores tie. Schools are ranked here on published results alone; our composite score, which also weighs Ofsted inspection, progress and attendance, orders the same schools on the best secondary schools page.

See the best secondary schools in Cumbria on our composite score

Cumbria GCSE results 2026: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in Cumbria ranked on Attainment 8

Independent schools in Cumbria with published GCSE results

More about schools in Cumbria

Cumbria GCSE results: common questions