Kirkbie Kendal School, Kendal
Kirkbie Kendal School is a secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 18 in Kendal. It was rated Good at its last graded Ofsted inspection, in September 2014. Ofsted's ungraded inspection in May 2024 did not change this grade. Its 2026 GCSE results were the 7th-highest of the 20 schools in Westmorland and Furness with published results, and 1,381st of 3,298 across England. It was 98% full in 2025.
- GCSE results
- In line with England
- Ofsted
- Good (2014)
- Demand
- Oversubscribed
- Attendance
- Better than England average
- Progress (2024)
- Above average
Year 7 applications for September 2027 close in 4 days
Deadline Saturday 31 October 2026. Apply to Westmorland and Furness (the council where you live). Offers on 1 March.
Data last updated 27 Oct 2026
Kirkbie Kendal School in detail
Kirkbie Kendal School in its own words
From the headteacher's welcome: "The Sixth Form students at Kirkbie Kendal School follow the school’s core values of ‘Care, Hardwork, Resilience and Curiosity to help them flourish and develop into mature and well-rounded young adults. The atmosphere is friendly and welcoming, so students can follow their chosen 3 or 4 A-Levels in an environment that encourages them all to meet their full potential."
Clubs and activities named on the school's website include football and chess.
Headteacher's welcome (school website)Clubs (school website)
Source: The school's own website
Results
In 2026, pupils at Kirkbie Kendal School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 47.5, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 44.8 in Westmorland and Furness and 47 across England.
47% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 41% in Westmorland and Furness and 47% in England.
That is down from 50.1 in 2025.
Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.12: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.
Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 34.1, against 49.3 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 15.2 points.
Pupils sat GCSEs in 23 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Geography and Business Studies.
Getting a place at Kirkbie Kendal School
For September 2026 entry, 199 families put Kirkbie Kendal School as their first choice and 304 named it as one of their preferences, for 188 places offered. That is 1.1 first choices for every place. 12 families who put it first were not offered a place there.
Admissions history and your chances at Kirkbie Kendal School
Where pupils go next
Of the 168 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 89% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 46% to a further education college, 5% to an apprenticeship and 1% into work.
Of the 103 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 42% went on to university or other higher education, 9% to apprenticeships and 36% into work. 22% went to one of the most selective third of universities.
Who goes there
14.2% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 5.5% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.
Getting there
The nearest railway station is Kendal Rail Station, about 1 mile away in a straight line.
14 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Lound Road Garage (near), 70 metres away.
The area around the school
In August 2026, police recorded 128 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, public order offences and shoplifting. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Westmorland and Furness (11), as is usual near a town centre.
Suspensions and exclusions
In 2024/25, Kirkbie Kendal School issued 93 suspensions, 8.9 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 2 permanent exclusions.
Primary schools nearby
The primary schools closest to Kirkbie Kendal School are Heron Hill Primary School (0.2 miles); Dean Gibson Catholic Primary School, Kendal (0.4 miles); Vicarage Park CofE Primary School (0.4 miles); and Ghyllside Primary School (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.
Heron Hill Primary SchoolDean Gibson Catholic Primary School, KendalVicarage Park CofE Primary SchoolGhyllside Primary School
Sources: DfE school performance data (averages: state mainstream schools); DfE school-level applications and offers; council admissions booklets; DfE appeals statistics; DfE destination measures; DfE school census and special educational needs statistics; NaPTAN (Department for Transport); English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); data.police.uk street-level crime; DfE exclusions statistics
Key Information
DfE GIASOfsted Rating
Ofsted · 2 years agoThis judgement is from September 2014, 12 years ago, longer than Ofsted's usual 4-year cycle: the school may have changed since.
Overall
Latest (ungraded) inspection: The school remains Good, but Ofsted raised concerns; its next inspection will be a full graded one.
Ofsted's report, in its own words
What is it like to attend this school?
Pupils, including students in the sixth form, are proud to attend this school. Pupils value the friendships that they forge. They also appreciate the care and warmth that they receive from teachers. This helps pupils to feel safe and happy.
Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), typically behave well during lessons and at social times. Lessons are rarely interrupted by the behaviour of others. This creates a purposeful learning environment in classrooms. Students in the sixth form have positive attitudes towards their learning. They are motivated and keen to do well.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
The school has an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in the quality of education on offer to pupils. In recent times, with the support of the governing body, they have taken positive steps to improve the curriculum across key stages 3 and 4 and in the sixth form. For instance, the school has improved the modern foreign languages options offered to pupils in key stage 3. This is because the school is working to provide a more ambitious curriculum for pupils across school. Most staff value how the school has managed their workload through this process of change. Nevertheless, some of the work to improve the curriculum is at varying stages of development. In many subjects, the knowledge that pupils should be taught and when this content should be delivered is not clear. Consequently, pupils, including those with SEND, do not learn all that they should to help them to know and to remember more over time.
In subjects where the curriculum is more developed, teachers use their expertise to design effective learning activities for pupils. However, in other subjects, some teachers do not use assessment strategies well enough to identify and address gaps in pupils' learning. This hampers how well pupils, including those in the sixth form, build on their knowledge over time.
From Ofsted's May 2024 ungraded inspection report: the opening paragraphs of each section, quoted word for word. Read the full report Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Ofsted Insights
Ofsted rated this school Good at its September 2014 inspection - unchanged since its previous inspection.
Rated Good for
Leadership & management.
About
Kirkbie Kendal School is an academy school and known as a Business and Enterprise College in Kendal, Cumbria, Northern England, and serves the area around the town and rural countryside. Kirkbie Kendal School operates as a Foundation school, and has been regularly oversubscribed, accepting students based on a designated hierarchy.
From Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
At a Glance
14.2%
Free School Meals
No
Boarding
No
Nursery
Yes
Sixth Form
No
Special Measures
Secondary Performance (GCSE)
Academic year 2025/26GCSE Results
2025/26 academic year
Progress 8 has improved from 0.01 to 0.12 (2023 to 2024). Attainment 8 has declined from 50.6 to 47.5 (2023 to 2026). GCSE English & Maths 5+ has declined from 60% to 47% (2023 to 2026).
Performance by Group
| Group | Progress 8 | Attainment 8 | Eng+Maths 5+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pupils | - | 47.5 | 46.8% |
| Disadvantaged(22) | - | 34.1 | 18.2% |
| Not known to be disadvantaged(168) | - | 49.3 | 50.6% |
| Boys(111) | - | 46.6 | 43.2% |
| Girls(79) | - | 48.9 | 51.9% |
Show more breakdowns (2)
| Known or believed to be other than English(10) | - | 42.8 | 40% |
| Non mobile(188) | - | 47.8 | 47.3% |
2025/26 academic year - DfE performance tables data
GCSE Subjects Offered
+ 3 more subjects
2025/26 academic year - entries by number of pupils
After GCSEs - Leaver Destinations
After GCSEs (Year 11) - 168 students
2023/24 data
Exclusions & Suspensions
2
Permanent exclusions
0.19%
Exclusion rate
93
Suspensions
8.93%
Suspension rate
40 pupils received one or more suspensions out of 1,041 pupils
2024/25 academic year
How Does This School Compare?
Ranked against 1 nearby secondary school
Keep up with Kirkbie Kendal School
Term dates
Kirkbie Kendal School is an academy, so it sets its own term dates: check the school's website. As a guide, see Westmorland and Furness's term dates for its community schools.
Getting There
Bus Stops
Free school transport
Check free transport to Kirkbie Kendal School from your postcode →
You apply to the council where you live. Kirkbie Kendal School is in Westmorland and Furness; for families living there:
- Westmorland and Furness's school travel policy: Home to School Transport Policy 2027 to 2028 (Reception to Year 11)
Safety and surroundings
Road collisions within 500 m (2021 to 2025)
- Collisions
- 17
- Fatal
- 0
- Serious
- 5
- Children hurt
- 0
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 17 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 5 serious and 12 slight.
No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt.
4 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included.
The typical figure for schools in Westmorland and Furness is 3 (the median across 161 schools, same distance and years).
Serious and slight counts use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment, which allows for changes in how police forces record injuries; they are estimates, rounded to whole numbers. Distances are in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Commute and house prices
Your chances of a place at Kirkbie Kendal School
Will you get a place at Kirkbie Kendal School? Get the admissions report
Your home postcode, set against Kirkbie Kendal School's admissions figures, in one report saved to your account.
What the report includes for Kirkbie Kendal School:
- The straight-line distance from your home to Kirkbie Kendal School.
- We hold no last distance offered figures from Westmorland and Furness, so the report covers demand, alternatives and dates.
- Applications, first choices and offers at Kirkbie Kendal School for 2014 to 2026 entry.
- How many families in Westmorland and Furness got their first choice, and how often appeals there succeed.
- The nearest state schools to your home, with Ofsted rating, demand and last distance offered where published.
- Key dates for September 2027 entry and how to apply.
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Capacity & Demand
School Occupancy
98%
Near capacity
1,044 pupils
1,060 places
16 spare places in 2025
2025, DfE school capacity data
Area Demand Pressure - Kendal
Based on MHCLG Live Table 122 (2024-25, last 5 years) for Kendal
Across Westmorland and Furness council
Places available
2,857
Applications
1,903
Got 1st preference
96.4%
Got preferred school
99.5%
All secondary applications across Westmorland and Furness council (2026/27), not just this school.
This school: Oversubscribed
Inspection History(4)
SEND & SEN Provision
SEN Overview
220
SEN Support
34
EHC Plans
24.7%
of Total Pupils
2026 academic year
Provision & Specialist Facilities
Pupils by Need Type
Pupil Demographics
Ethnicity
2026 academic year
Key Indicators
1,029
Total Pupils
520
Boys
509
Girls
2026 academic year
Workforce
64
Teachers
16.1:1
Pupil-teacher ratio
£51,655
Mean salary
2026 data
School Funding
£6,611
Per pupil
£6170k
Total funding
£146k
Pupil premium
2025-26 financial year allocations
Pupil Absence2024/25
7.1%
Overall absence
19.1%
Persistent absence
917
Enrolments
Absence trend
Source: DfE pupil absence statistics. Persistent absence = pupils missing 10%+ sessions.
Feeder Primary Schools
Primary schools that likely feed into this school, based on proximity
Questions parents ask about Kirkbie Kendal School
What are GCSE results like at Kirkbie Kendal School?
In the 2026 results, pupils at Kirkbie Kendal School achieved an Attainment 8 score of 47.5. 47% passed GCSE English and maths at grade 5 or above.
What is Kirkbie Kendal School's Ofsted rating?
Kirkbie Kendal School's most recent Ofsted inspection, in May 2024, was ungraded, so it gave no overall grade. At its last graded inspection, in September 2014, it was rated Good.
What is the catchment area for Kirkbie Kendal School?
No fixed boundary. When Kirkbie Kendal School is oversubscribed, Westmorland and Furness allocates places by its published criteria, usually ending with home-to-school distance.
Is it hard to get a place at Kirkbie Kendal School?
Kirkbie Kendal School was close to full in 2025, at 98% of its capacity.
How big are the classes at Kirkbie Kendal School?
Classes at Kirkbie Kendal School average 24.6 pupils (2025/26).
How many pupils go to Kirkbie Kendal School?
Kirkbie Kendal School has around 1029 pupils on roll. 14% are eligible for free school meals.
What is attendance like at Kirkbie Kendal School?
7.1% of sessions were missed at Kirkbie Kendal School in 2024/25. 19.1% of pupils were persistently absent (missing 10% or more of sessions).
How do I apply to Kirkbie Kendal School?
Apply through Westmorland and Furness's coordinated admissions process, naming Kirkbie Kendal School on your application. Applications for Year 7 places starting in September 2027 close on Saturday 31 October 2026, and offers are made on Monday 1 March 2027.
How many road collisions happen near Kirkbie Kendal School?
Within 500 m of the school's mapped location, police recorded 17 road collisions in which someone was injured in 2021 to 2025: none fatal, 5 serious and 12 slight. No children aged 0 to 15 were among the people hurt. 4 of the collisions happened on a weekday between 08:00 and 09:30 or 14:45 and 16:30, holidays included. The typical figure for schools in Westmorland and Furness is 3 (the median across 161 schools, same distance and years).
Where is Kirkbie Kendal School?
Kirkbie Kendal School is at Lound Road, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 7EQ.
Source: Department for Transport, Road Safety Data (STATS19)