Distington Community School
Church Road, Distington, Workington, CA14 5TE
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Community school
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Headteacher
- Miss Angela Quirk
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Whitehaven and Workington
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 105
- Pupils on roll
- 114
- URN
- 133264
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01946830526
About this school
Distington Community School is a community primary school in Workington. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 114 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Distington Community School, and its latest judgement is set out 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
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
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
A short monitoring inspection followed on : inspectors found that standards have been maintained.
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 16 | 9 | 11 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 69% | 56% | 9% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 75% | 67% | 36% |
| Expected standard in maths | 69% | 56% | 27% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 69% | 56% | 18% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 103.0 | 98.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 103.0 | 96.0 | 94.0 |
| Reading progress | +0.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -3.00 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -1.80 | - | - |
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 Distington Community 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 | Cumberland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 69% | 53% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 56% | 52.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 9% | 54.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 117 |
| 2023/24 | 109 |
| 2024/25 | 114 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Distington Community School compares
Distington Community School ranked 110th of 111 primary schools in Cumberland for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 5% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 69% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 9% | 4.7% | 36.2% | 114 | — |
| Beckstone Primary School | 65% | 5% | 14.7% | 375 | 1.4 miles |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary School | 69% | 5.6% | 50.5% | 209 | 1.6 miles |
| Lowca Community School | 50% | 4.1% | 34% | 51 | 1.6 miles |
| Westfield Nursery and Primary School | 64% | 6.7% | 66.4% | 160 | 2.2 miles |
| St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Workington | 47% | 5% | 46.8% | 183 | 2.3 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.
Inspection history
-
Ungraded inspection report28 January 2025
- 24 September 2019
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 36.19%
- English as an additional language
- 2.6%
- Overall absence
- 4.69%
- Persistent absence
- 11.11%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Beckstone Primary School1.4 miles
Primary · Workington
-
St Mary's Catholic Primary School1.6 miles
Primary · Workington
-
Lowca Community School1.6 miles
Primary · Whitehaven
-
Westfield Nursery and Primary School2.2 miles
Primary · Workington
-
St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Workington2.3 miles
Primary · Workington
Other schools in Workington
Distington Community School ranks 12th of the 12 ranked primary schools in Workington.
- Ashfield Infant & Nursery School Primary
- Ashfield Junior School Primary
- Beckstone Primary School Primary
- Dean CofE School Primary
- Derwent Vale Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Northside Primary School Primary
- Seaton Academy Primary
- Seaton St. Paul's CofE Junior School Primary
- St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Workington Primary
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School Primary
- St Michael's Nursery and Infant School Primary
- St Patrick's Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Distington Community School teach?
- Distington Community School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Workington.
- Who is the headteacher of Distington Community School?
- The headteacher of Distington Community School is Miss Angela Quirk, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Distington Community School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Distington Community 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 Distington Community School?
- Distington Community School has 114 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Distington Community School full?
- Distington Community School has capacity for 105 pupils and 114 on roll (109%), so it is at or above 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 Distington Community School a faith school?
- No. Distington Community School has no designated religious character.
- Does Distington Community School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Distington Community School as having nursery classes.
- How have Distington Community School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 69% in 2022/23 and 9% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Distington Community School compare with other schools in Cumberland?
- Distington Community School ranked 110th of 111 primary schools in Cumberland for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 5% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 69% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Distington Community School's absence rate?
- Distington Community School's overall absence rate is 4.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Distington Community School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Distington Community 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 30 June 2026.