Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith
Ullswater Road, Penrith, CA11 7EG
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- CHANGING LIVES LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher David Marchant
- Admissions policy
- Selective
- Sponsor
- Changing Lives Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Penrith and Solway
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,065
- Pupils on roll
- 1,026
- URN
- 136732
- Local authority
- Westmorland and Furness
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01768864621
About this school
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith is a secondary academy in Penrith. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,026 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 | 158 | 161 | 160 |
| Attainment 8 score | 64.1 | 65.0 | 64.8 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.45 +0.23 to +0.68 | +0.35 +0.13 to +0.58 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 90% | 91.9% | 87.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 99% | 98.8% | 96.3% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 60% | 52.8% | 63.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.8 | 5.9 | 6.0 |
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 Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith 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 | 64.1 | 37.9 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 65 | 40 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 64.8 | 41.9 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.3% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 5.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,038 |
| 2023/24 | 1,040 |
| 2024/25 | 1,036 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith compares
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith ranked 1st of 20 secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 96% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 52% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 64.8 | 5.3% | 5.1% | 1,026 | — |
| Ullswater Community College | 41 | 8.8% | 19.4% | 1,520 | 0.4 miles |
| North Lakes School | — | 6.4% | 32.6% | 161 | 0.3 miles |
| Brunswick School | — | 6.3% | 23.6% | 140 | 0.4 miles |
| St Catherine's Catholic Primary School, Penrith | — | 4.6% | 16.7% | 104 | 0.6 miles |
| Beaconside CofE Primary School | — | 4.7% | 19.5% | 445 | 0.8 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)
- 5.13%
- English as an additional language
- 7.8%
- Overall absence
- 5.31%
- Persistent absence
- 10.07%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Ullswater Community College0.4 miles
Secondary · Penrith
-
North Lakes School0.3 miles
Primary · Penrith
-
Brunswick School0.4 miles
Primary · Penrith
-
St Catherine's Catholic Primary School, Penrith0.6 miles
Primary · Penrith
-
Beaconside CofE Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Penrith
Other schools in Penrith
- Ullswater Community College 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 Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith teach?
- Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Penrith.
- Who is the headteacher of Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith?
- The headteacher of Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith is Headteacher David Marchant, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith, 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 Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith?
- Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith has 1,026 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith full?
- Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith has capacity for 1,065 pupils and 1,026 on roll (96%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith a faith school?
- No. Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith has no designated religious character.
- Is Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith a selective school?
- Yes. Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith is recorded as Selective in the schools register, so entry involves selection.
- Who runs Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith?
- Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith is part of CHANGING LIVES LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 64.1 in 2022/23 and 64.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith rank locally?
- Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith ranked 1st of 20 secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 96% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 52% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith's absence rate?
- Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith's overall absence rate is 5.3% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith'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 1 July 2026.