Samuel King's School
Church Road, Alston, CA9 3QU
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Mr Rob Dawson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Federation
- Alston Moor Federation
- Constituency
- Penrith and Solway
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 235
- Pupils on roll
- 113
- URN
- 112378
- Local authority
- Westmorland and Furness
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01434381236
About this school
Samuel King's School is a foundation secondary school in Alston. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 113 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 6 July 2022, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 19 | 13 | 13 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.4 | 36.4 | 30.2 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.55 -0.11 to +1.20 | -0.24 -1.01 to +0.53 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 26% | 23.1% | 23.1% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 53% | 53.8% | 30.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 11% | 7.7% | 15.4% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Samuel King's 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 | 44.4 | 37.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 36.4 | 40 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 30.2 | 41.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 9.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 11.6% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 81 |
| 2023/24 | 89 |
| 2024/25 | 107 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Samuel King's School compares
Samuel King's School ranked 20th of 20 secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 22% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 30.2 | 11.6% | 29% | 113 | — |
| Alston Primary School | — | 4.2% | 18.4% | 88 | 0.0 miles |
| 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 | — | 4.4% | 21% | 126 | 9.6 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)
- 28.97%
- English as an additional language
- 0%
- Overall absence
- 11.59%
- Persistent absence
- 32.14%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Alston Primary School0.0 miles
Primary · Alston
-
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
Other schools in Alston
- Alston Primary School Primary
- Nenthead Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Samuel King's School teach?
- Samuel King's School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Alston.
- Who is the headteacher of Samuel King's School?
- The headteacher of Samuel King's School is Mr Rob Dawson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Samuel King's School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Samuel King's 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 big is Samuel King's School?
- Samuel King's School has 113 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Samuel King's School full?
- Samuel King's School has capacity for 235 pupils and 113 on roll (48%), 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 Samuel King's School a faith school?
- No. Samuel King's School has no designated religious character.
- Is Samuel King's School a selective school?
- No. Samuel King's School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Samuel King's School?
- Samuel King's 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 Samuel King's School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.4 in 2022/23 and 30.2 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Samuel King's School rank locally?
- Samuel King's School ranked 20th of 20 secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 22% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Samuel King's School's absence rate?
- Samuel King's School's overall absence rate is 11.6% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Samuel King's School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Samuel King's 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.