Alston Primary School
Church Road, Alston, CA9 3QU
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Mr Rob Dawson
- Federation
- Alston Moor Federation
- Constituency
- Penrith and Solway
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 105
- Pupils on roll
- 88
- URN
- 112101
- Local authority
- Westmorland and Furness
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01434381236
About this school
Alston Primary School is a community primary school in Alston. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 88 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Alston Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 17 | 12 | 13 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 35% | 33% | 38% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 12% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 71% | 58% | 69% |
| Expected standard in maths | 76% | 50% | 69% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 76% | 58% | 77% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 105.0 | 102.0 | 104.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 104.0 | 99.0 | 102.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -2.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +1.00 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Alston Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Westmorland and Furness average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 35% | 60.6% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 33% | 57% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 38% | 56.5% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 3.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.2% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 100 |
| 2023/24 | 89 |
| 2024/25 | 87 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Alston Primary School compares
Alston Primary School ranked 82nd of 98 primary schools in Westmorland and Furness for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 10% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 79% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38% | 4.2% | 18.4% | 88 | — |
| Nenthead Primary School | — | 5.2% | 6.7% | 17 | 4.0 miles |
| Whitfield CofE Primary School | — | 6.5% | 0% | 22 | 8.3 miles |
| Wearhead Primary School | — | 4.8% | 14.3% | 11 | 9.5 miles |
| Allendale Primary School | 47% | 4.4% | 21% | 126 | 9.6 miles |
| Kirkoswald CofE School | 67% | 2.9% | 53.2% | 48 | 10.6 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 18.39%
- English as an additional language
- 0%
- Overall absence
- 4.23%
- Persistent absence
- 3.9%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Nenthead Primary School4.0 miles
Primary · Alston
-
Whitfield CofE Primary School8.3 miles
Primary · Hexham
-
Wearhead Primary School9.5 miles
Primary · Bishop Auckland
-
Allendale Primary School9.6 miles
Primary · Allendale
-
Kirkoswald CofE School10.6 miles
Primary · Penrith
Other schools in Alston
- Nenthead Primary School Primary
- Samuel King's School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does Alston Primary School teach?
- Alston Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Alston.
- Who is the headteacher of Alston Primary School?
- The headteacher of Alston Primary School is Mr Rob Dawson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Alston Primary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Alston Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Alston Primary School?
- Alston Primary School has 88 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Alston Primary School full?
- Alston Primary School has capacity for 105 pupils and 88 on roll (84%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Alston Primary School a faith school?
- No. Alston Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Alston Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Alston Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- Is Alston Primary School part of an academy trust?
- Alston Primary School is part of the Alston Moor Federation federation. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Alston Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 35% in 2022/23 and 38% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Alston Primary School compare with other schools in Westmorland and Furness?
- Alston Primary School ranked 82nd of 98 primary schools in Westmorland and Furness for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 10% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 79% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Alston Primary School's absence rate?
- Alston Primary School's overall absence rate is 4.2% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Alston Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Alston Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 29 June 2026.