Which school had the best GCSE results in Cumbria in 2023?

On 2023 Attainment 8, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith topped the table in Cumbria with 64.1, against an England average of 46.3. 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.

Where are the latest Cumbria GCSE results?

This page is the 2023 archive (the 2022/23 academic year). The latest published results for every school in Cumbria are on the main Cumbria GCSE results page, which updates when the DfE releases the next year's performance tables: provisional figures in the autumn, revised figures early in the new year.

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. Progress 8 measures the same pupils against others nationally with the same primary-school starting point.

Why does a school in Cumbria show no 2023 GCSE results?

A school has no published figure for 2023 when it had no Year 11 cohort in that year (a new school, or one that opened with younger year groups), when it converted to an academy and the DfE published that year's 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 2023: secondary school league table

37 state secondary schools in Cumbria ranked on their 2023 GCSE results (Attainment 8, the 2022/23 academic year), with grade 5+ and grade 4+ in English and maths, Progress 8, EBacc average point score and cohort size for each school against the England average. 4 independent schools with published results are listed separately, unranked.

This is the 2023 archive of the table. See the latest Cumbria GCSE results for the newest year the DfE has published.

County 37 state secondary schools 2022/23 results Archive year

Secondary schools in Cumbria ranked on Attainment 8

37 of 37 schools have published 2023 results. Source: DfE school performance tables, 2022/23.

Secondary schools in Cumbria ranked on Attainment 8, 2023 results
Rank	School	Attainment 8	Progress 8	Grade 5+ English & maths	Grade 4+ English & maths	EBacc APS	Pupils
–	England average	46.3	0.00	45%	65%	4.05	–
1	Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith Penrith · Academy converter	64.1	+0.45 (0.23 to 0.68)	90%	99%	5.82	158
2	Cockermouth School Cockermouth · Academy converter	53.6	+0.41 (0.22 to 0.60)	60%	78%	4.91	210
3	Keswick School Keswick · Academy converter	52.8	+0.33 (0.13 to 0.52)	62%	83%	4.98	210
4	Cartmel Priory CofE School Grange-over-Sands · Academy converter	52.0	+0.29 (-0.09 to 0.68)	56%	78%	4.26	55
5	John Ruskin School Coniston · Community school	51.6	+0.42 (0.00 to 0.83)	31%	78%	4.41	45
6	Ulverston Victoria High School Ulverston · Community school	51.2	+0.12 (-0.07 to 0.31)	51%	71%	4.50	214
7	Kirkbie Kendal School Kendal · Academy converter	50.6	+0.01 (-0.19 to 0.22)	60%	78%	4.51	186
8	The Queen Katherine School Kendal · Academy converter	50.5	+0.33 (0.10 to 0.56)	55%	71%	4.42	148
9	Settlebeck School Sedbergh · Academy converter	50.2	+0.36 (-0.08 to 0.79)	51%	76%	4.21	45
10	The Nelson Thomlinson School Wigton · Voluntary controlled school	46.5	-0.11 (-0.31 to 0.09)	45%	67%	4.17	197
11	Dallam School Cumbria · Academy converter	46.1	-0.27 (-0.49 to -0.06)	36%	63%	3.95	169
12	Caldew School Carlisle · Academy converter	45.1	-0.10 (-0.32 to 0.12)	38%	65%	4.03	164
13	Kirkby Stephen Grammar School Kirkby Stephen · Academy converter	44.8	+0.01 (-0.35 to 0.38)	32%	68%	3.70	57
14=	Samuel King's School Alston · Foundation school	44.4	+0.55 (-0.11 to 1.20)	26%	53%	3.35	19
14=	St Benedict's Catholic High School Whitehaven · Voluntary aided school	44.4	-0.26 (-0.46 to -0.05)	37%	65%	3.78	184
14=	William Howard School Brampton · Academy converter	44.4	-0.36 (-0.55 to -0.16)	39%	63%	3.85	205
17	Richard Rose Morton Academy Carlisle · Academy sponsor led	44.0	+0.04 (-0.19 to 0.27)	30%	58%	3.63	147
18	West Lakes Academy Egremont · Academy sponsor led	43.7	-0.37 (-0.56 to -0.18)	35%	59%	3.94	209
19	Dowdales School Dalton-in-Furness · Community school	43.6	-0.40 (-0.61 to -0.19)	29%	62%	3.72	178
20	St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington Workington · Academy converter	43.4	-0.31 (-0.56 to -0.05)	33%	55%	3.51	119
21	Workington Academy Workington · Academy sponsor led	43.1	+0.15 (-0.08 to 0.37)	41%	62%	3.86	149
22	The Lakes School Windermere · Community school	42.4	-0.12 (-0.47 to 0.23)	29%	48%	3.51	66
23	Chetwynde School Barrow-in-Furness · Free schools	42.2	-0.44 (-0.78 to -0.10)	43%	59%	3.47	68
24	Trinity School Carlisle · Academy converter	42.0	-0.36 (-0.53 to -0.18)	36%	57%	3.71	249
25	St John Henry Newman Catholic School Carlisle · Voluntary aided school	41.6	-0.45 (-0.76 to -0.14)	20%	48%	3.71	81
26	St Bernards Catholic High School, Barrow Barrow-in-Furness · Academy converter	41.3	-0.55 (-0.78 to -0.32)	29%	53%	3.50	148
27	Furness Academy Barrow-in-Furness · Academy sponsor led	41.2	-0.26 (-0.46 to -0.07)	31%	54%	3.28	196
28	Appleby Grammar School Appleby-in-Westmorland · Academy converter	40.8	-0.15 (-0.48 to 0.17)	32%	58%	3.50	78
29	Millom School Millom · Community school	40.7	-0.50 (-0.79 to -0.21)	35%	54%	3.36	92
30	Walney School Barrow-in-Furness · Academy sponsor led	40.6	-0.84 (-1.13 to -0.56)	33%	58%	3.44	99
31	Richard Rose Central Academy Carlisle · Academy sponsor led	40.5	-0.38 (-0.60 to -0.15)	35%	58%	3.60	167
32	Ullswater Community College Penrith · Foundation school	40.3	-0.11 (-0.30 to 0.07)	31%	61%	3.53	233
33	Netherhall School Maryport · Community school	39.2	-0.76 (-1.02 to -0.50)	27%	56%	3.24	114
34	The Whitehaven Academy Whitehaven · Academy sponsor led	34.5	-0.98 (-1.30 to -0.66)	16%	34%	2.82	76
35	Solway Community School Wigton · Community school	33.5	-1.29 (-1.84 to -0.73)	12%	42%	2.94	26
36	Energy Coast UTC Workington · University technical college	29.3	-1.48 (-1.73 to -1.23)	20%	48%	2.50	122
37	Beacon Hill Community School Wigton · Community school	27.8	-1.18 (-1.76 to -0.60)	4%	17%	2.44	23

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

Independent schools in Cumbria with published 2023 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	9.9	0%	42
Lime House School Carlisle · Other independent school	25.4	16%	25
Moorfield Learning Centre Other independent school	14.7	0%	6
Sedbergh School Sedbergh (La10 5hg) · Other independent school	40.7	0%	107

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 2023 was 46.3.

Grade 5+ in English and maths is the share of pupils reaching a "strong pass" in both; grade 4+ is the "standard pass". EBacc APS is the average point score across the English Baccalaureate subjects, including pupils who did not enter them.

Progress 8 measures how much progress pupils made from the end of primary school to their GCSEs against pupils nationally with the same starting point; it is the like-for-like measure, and the range in brackets is its confidence interval.

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.

This is the 2023 archive of the table: each school's 2023 figures, ranked within that year, so a school with no 2023 figure is listed unranked even where it has results for a later year. The main Cumbria GCSE results page always ranks the newest year the DfE has published.

See the best secondary schools in Cumbria on our composite score

Cumbria GCSE results 2023: secondary school league table

Secondary schools in Cumbria ranked on Attainment 8

Independent schools in Cumbria with published 2023 GCSE results

More about schools in Cumbria

Cumbria GCSE results: common questions