Ullswater Community College
Wetheriggs Lane, Penrith, CA11 8NG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Foundation school
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Headteacher
- Mr Stephen Gilby
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, PD - Physical Disability, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Penrith and Solway
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,625
- Pupils on roll
- 1,520
- URN
- 112393
- Local authority
- Westmorland and Furness
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01768210206
About this school
Ullswater Community College is a foundation secondary school in Penrith. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,520 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. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Overall judgement at the last full inspection
This inspection took place under the previous framework, which gave a single overall grade. Ofsted now publishes report cards instead, so newer inspections of other schools will look different. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 233 | 284 | 262 |
| Attainment 8 score | 40.3 | 40.7 | 41.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.11 -0.30 to +0.07 | +0.01 -0.15 to +0.18 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 31% | 33.5% | 43.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 61% | 57.7% | 61.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 31% | 50.7% | 18.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
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 Ullswater Community College 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 | 40.3 | 37.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.7 | 40 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41 | 41.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,520 |
| 2023/24 | 1,540 |
| 2024/25 | 1,535 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ullswater Community College compares
Ullswater Community College ranked 15th of 20 secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 41% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41 | 8.8% | 19.4% | 1,520 | — |
| Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith | 64.8 | 5.3% | 5.1% | 1,026 | 0.4 miles |
| Appleby Grammar School | 40.7 | 8.2% | 21.5% | 357 | 11.4 miles |
| North Lakes School | — | 6.4% | 32.6% | 161 | 0.2 miles |
| Brunswick School | — | 6.3% | 23.6% | 140 | 0.5 miles |
| Beaconside CofE Primary School | — | 4.7% | 19.5% | 445 | 0.6 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)
- 19.38%
- English as an additional language
- 6.6%
- Overall absence
- 8.84%
- Persistent absence
- 24.57%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith0.4 miles
Secondary · Penrith
-
Appleby Grammar School11.4 miles
Secondary · Appleby-in-Westmorland
-
North Lakes School0.2 miles
Primary · Penrith
-
Brunswick School0.5 miles
Primary · Penrith
-
Beaconside CofE Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Penrith
Other schools in Penrith
- Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith Secondary
- Beaconside CofE Primary School Primary
- Brunswick School Primary
- Calthwaite CofE School Primary
- Clifton Primary School Primary
- Crosby Ravensworth CofE School Primary
- Culgaith CofE School Primary
- Greystoke Primary School Primary
- Kirkby Thore School Primary
- Kirkoswald CofE School Primary
- Langwathby CofE Primary School Primary
- Lazonby C of E Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Ullswater Community College teach?
- Ullswater Community College teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Penrith.
- Who is the headteacher of Ullswater Community College?
- The headteacher of Ullswater Community College is Mr Stephen Gilby, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ullswater Community College last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ullswater Community College, 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 Ullswater Community College?
- Ullswater Community College has 1,520 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Ullswater Community College full?
- Ullswater Community College has capacity for 1,625 pupils and 1,520 on roll (94%), 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 Ullswater Community College a faith school?
- No. Ullswater Community College has no designated religious character.
- Is Ullswater Community College a selective school?
- No. Ullswater Community College is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- What SEN provision does Ullswater Community College have?
- The schools register lists Ullswater Community College's special educational needs provision as: SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health; PD - Physical Disability; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Ullswater Community College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 40.3 in 2022/23 and 41 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ullswater Community College rank locally?
- Ullswater Community College ranked 15th of 20 secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 41% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 12% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ullswater Community College's absence rate?
- Ullswater Community College's overall absence rate is 8.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ullswater Community College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ullswater Community College'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.