Schools in Lancaster
Lancashire · 41 schools
Reception applications for September 2027 close in 75 days
Deadline Friday 15 January 2027. Apply to Lancashire (the council where you live). Offers on 16 April.
Year 7 offers for September 2027: Monday 1 March 2027
Applications closed on 31 October. Late applications are still accepted but considered after on-time ones.
Schools in Lancaster (41)
- Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy
Secondary · Ages 11-18 · LA1 4RS
Ofsted: Outstanding (2022)Attainment 8: 49.1 (2026)78% of first choices got in - St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School, Lancaster
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA1 4HT
Ofsted: Outstanding (2024)KS2: 95% expected (2025)79% of first choices got in - Austwick Church of England VA Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA2 8BN
Ofsted: Good (2019)KS2: 100% expected (2025) - Bentham Community Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA2 7BP
Ofsted: Good (2022)KS2: 74% expected (2025) - Bowerham Primary & Nursery School
Primary · Ages 2-11 · LA1 4BS
Ofsted: Good (2021)New report cardKS2: 75% expected (2025) - Caton St Paul's Church of England Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA2 9PJ
Ofsted: Good (2012)New report cardKS2: 89% expected (2025)89% of first choices got in - Dolphinholme Church of England Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA2 9AN
Ofsted: Good (2024)KS2: 92% expected (2025) - Ellel St John the Evangelist Church of England Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA2 0JS
Ofsted: Good (2013)KS2: 82% expected (2025) - Jamea Al Kauthar
Senior · Ages 11-25 · Independent · LA1 5AJ
Ofsted: Good (2025)Attainment 8: 51.5 (2026) - Lancaster Christ Church Church of England Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA1 3ES
Ofsted: Good (2012)New report cardKS2: 77% expected (2025) - Lancaster Dallas Road Community Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA1 1LD
Ofsted: Good (2022)New report cardKS2: 83% expected (2025) - Lancaster Girls' Grammar School
Secondary · Ages 11-18 · LA1 1SF
Ofsted: Good (2022)Attainment 8: 72.1 (2026)Grammar (11-plus)88% of first choices got in - Lancaster High School
Secondary · Ages 11-16 · LA1 3LS
Ofsted: Good (2023)Attainment 8: 41.8 (2026)92% of first choices got in - Lancaster Independent School for Alternative Learning (Lisal)
Prep · Ages 5-11 · Independent · LA1 5QU
Ofsted: Good (2023) - Lancaster Royal Grammar School
Secondary · Ages 11-18 · LA1 3EF
Ofsted: Good (2021)New report cardAttainment 8: 71.6 (2026)Grammar (11-plus)89% of first choices got in - Lancaster Ryelands Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA1 2RJ
Ofsted: Good (2022)New report cardKS2: 78% expected (2025) - Quernmore Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA2 9EL
Ofsted: Good (2019)KS2: 85% expected (2025) - Scotforth St Paul's Church of England Primary and Nursery School
Primary · Ages 3-11 · LA1 4SE
Ofsted: Good (2023)KS2: 84% expected (2025) - Skerton St Luke's Church of England Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA1 2JH
Ofsted: Good (2022)New report cardKS2: 54% expected (2025) - Slyne-with-Hest, St Luke's, Church of England Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA2 6JL
Ofsted: Good (2012)New report cardKS2: 85% expected (2025) - St Wilfrid's Cof E Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA2 6QE
Ofsted: Good (2020)KS2: 82% expected (2025)82% of first choices got in - Tatham Fells Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School
Primary · Ages 3-11 · LA2 8RA
Ofsted: Good (2018)KS2: 83% expected (2024) - The Cathedral Catholic Primary School, Lancaster
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA1 3BT
Ofsted: Good (2016)KS2: 92% expected (2025) - Willow Lane Community Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA1 5PR
Ofsted: Good (2020)KS2: 67% expected (2025) - Wray with Botton Endowed Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA2 8QE
Ofsted: Good (2015)KS2: 75% expected (2025)70% of first choices got in - Hornby St Margaret's Church of England Primary School
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA2 8JY
Ofsted: Requires Improvement (2024)New report cardKS2: 60% expected (2025) - Our Lady's Catholic College
Secondary · Ages 11-18 · LA1 2RX
Ofsted: Requires Improvement (2024)Attainment 8: 41.1 (2026)99% of first choices got in - St Josephs Catholic Primary School, Lancaster
Primary · Ages 4-11 · LA1 2DU
Ofsted: Requires Improvement (2024)KS2: 57% expected (2025) - Thurnham Glasson Christ Church, Church of England Primary School
Primary · Ages 5-11 · LA2 0AR
Ofsted: Requires Improvement (2023)New report card - Chadwick High School
Secondary · Ages 11-16 · LA1 2AY
- Oneschool Global Uk Lancaster Campus
All-through · Ages 7-18 · Independent · LA2 8LH
Attainment 8: 49.7 (2024) - University of Lancaster
LA1 4YW
Showing 20 of 41 schools
By type:Primary schools in Lancaster (26)Secondary schools in Lancaster (6)Special schools in Lancaster (2)All-through schools in Lancaster (1)Prep schools in Lancaster (1)PRU schools in Lancaster (1)Post-16 schools in Lancaster (1)Nursery schools in Lancaster (1)Senior schools in Lancaster (1)
41
26 primary · 6 secondary
10,910
89% capacity used
12
2 outstanding · 10 good
12,265
1,355 spare places
Ofsted Ratings
Best Schools in Lancaster
View the full league table - ranked by Ofsted, Progress 8, KS2 results and more
Best Schools in Lancashire
Compare all schools across the county
Area Performance (2026)
Attainment 8
54.5
GCSE Eng+Maths
59.5%
School Capacity & Demand
Primary Schools
87% occupied · 695 spare places
Secondary Schools
97% occupied · 203 spare places
Future school places: DfE estimates
Lancaster's primary schools are in 7 DfE planning areas; DfE does not publish a figure for the town itself.
- 10 of Lancaster's schools: DfE estimates the Lancaster City planning area (Lancashire) will have 376 spare primary places in 2027/28.
- 4 of Lancaster's schools: DfE estimates the Lancaster/Rural South Lancaster Primary planning area (Lancashire) will have 119 spare primary places in 2027/28.
- 3 of Lancaster's schools: DfE estimates the Lancaster/Lunesdale Primary planning area (Lancashire) will have 121 spare primary places in 2027/28.
- 3 of Lancaster's schools: DfE estimates the Skerton planning area (Lancashire) will have 232 spare primary places in 2027/28.
- 2 of Lancaster's schools: DfE estimates the Lancaster/Caton Primary planning area (Lancashire) will have 7 spare primary places in 2027/28. In the year groups that are short, it estimates 18 additional places needed.
- 2 of Lancaster's schools: DfE estimates the Lancaster/Rural North Lancaster Primary planning area (Lancashire) will have 27 spare primary places in 2027/28. In the year groups that are short, it estimates 14 additional places needed.
- 2 of Lancaster's schools: DfE estimates the North Craven Outer Area Primary planning area (North Yorkshire) will have 165 spare primary places in 2027/28.
All 5 of Lancaster's secondary schools in DfE's capacity survey are in one DfE planning area.
DfE estimates the Lancaster Secondary planning area (Lancashire) will have 1,430 spare secondary places in 2027/28.
Source: Department for Education, School capacity: Academic year 2024/25 (published 19 March 2026), estimates of future school place demand by planning area. Council pupil forecasts against reported places, counting places councils and DfE plan to add or remove; rounded to whole places. Explore Education Statistics
Questions parents ask about schools in Lancaster
How many schools are there in Lancaster?
Lancaster has 41 open schools: 26 state primary, 6 state secondary or all-through, 3 independent, 2 special and 4 others.
Source: DfE Get Information About Schools
Which schools in Lancaster are rated Outstanding?
4 schools in Lancaster were rated Outstanding at their most recent graded Ofsted inspection: St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School, Lancaster; Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy; Stepping Stones School; and The Loyne Specialist School. Counting Good as well, 89% of the 37 graded schools here are rated Good or better. Ofsted stopped giving single-word overall grades in September 2024, so these are the grades from each school's last full inspection.
St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School, LancasterRipley St Thomas Church of England AcademyStepping Stones SchoolThe Loyne Specialist School
Source: Ofsted
Which secondary schools in Lancaster get the best GCSE results?
Of the 5 schools in Lancaster with 2026 GCSE results, the highest Attainment 8 scores - the average grade across a pupil's best eight GCSEs - were at Lancaster Girls' Grammar School (selective grammar), with an Attainment 8 score of 72.1 and 96% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above; Lancaster Royal Grammar School (selective grammar), with an Attainment 8 score of 71.6 and 94% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above; and Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy, with an Attainment 8 score of 49.1 and 55% passing English and maths at grade 5 or above. Selective schools admit by ability, so their raw results are not a like-for-like comparison with comprehensives. Progress 8, the DfE's value-added measure, was not published for 2026.
Lancaster Girls' Grammar SchoolLancaster Royal Grammar SchoolRipley St Thomas Church of England Academy
Source: DfE school performance data
Which primary schools in Lancaster have the best SATs results?
Of the 24 primary schools in Lancaster with 2025 Key Stage 2 results, the highest shares of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading and maths were at Austwick Church of England VA Primary School (100% in reading, 100% in maths); Cawthorne's Endowed School (100% in reading, 100% in maths); and St Bernadette's Catholic Primary School, Lancaster (93% in reading, 97% in maths). Small schools can swing a long way from one year to the next, because each pupil is a large share of the result.
Austwick Church of England VA Primary SchoolCawthorne's Endowed SchoolSt Bernadette's Catholic Primary School, Lancaster
Source: DfE school performance data
Are there grammar schools in Lancaster?
Yes. Lancaster Girls' Grammar School and Lancaster Royal Grammar School are state grammar schools in Lancaster. Grammar schools admit pupils by ability through an entrance test, usually sat at the start of Year 6.
Lancaster Girls' Grammar SchoolLancaster Royal Grammar School
Source: DfE Get Information About Schools
Do schools in Lancaster have catchment areas?
Most state schools in Lancaster have no fixed catchment boundary. When a school is oversubscribed, the council allocates places on its published criteria - usually looked-after children first, then siblings, then home-to-school distance - so the practical cut-off moves each year. Each school's page here shows an estimate of its catchment radius.
How do I apply for a school place in Lancaster?
Apply to your council - Lancashire or North Yorkshire, depending on your address - through its coordinated admissions process, even for academies and faith schools. In England the closing date is 31 October for secondary places and 15 January for primary places, in the year before your child starts. Independent schools run their own admissions, so apply to those directly.