Ullswater Community College, Penrith

In 2026, pupils at Ullswater Community College averaged an Attainment 8 score of 39.5, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 44.8 in Westmorland and Furness and 47 across England.

35% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 41% in Westmorland and Furness and 47% in England.

That is down from 41 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.01: pupils made about 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 32.3, against 41.3 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 9 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 27 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Combined Science, Geography and History.

For September 2026 entry, 156 families put Ullswater Community College as their first choice and 283 named it as one of their preferences, for 161 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

Of the 284 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 77% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 36% to a further education college, 11% to an apprenticeship and 8% into work.

Of the 84 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 30% went on to university or other higher education, 12% to apprenticeships and 37% into work. 13% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

6.7% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 284 pupils (18.7%) received SEN support and 95 (6.3%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

Ullswater Community College has a resourced provision for social, emotional and mental health needs, physical disability, severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple learning difficulties: 50 places, 27 pupils on roll.

The nearest railway station is Station Entrance, about 660 metres away (roughly a 8-minute walk).

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Ullswater Community College (adjacent), 90 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 116 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, shoplifting and public order offences. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Westmorland and Furness (11), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, Ullswater Community College issued 183 suspensions, 11.9 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 4 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to Ullswater Community College are North Lakes School (0.2 miles); Brunswick School (0.5 miles); Beaconside CofE Primary School (0.6 miles); and St Catherine's Catholic Primary School, Penrith (0.7 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.