William Howard School
Longtown Road, Brampton, CA8 1AR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- CUMBRIA EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Ms Kath Pigdon
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Cumbria Education Trust
- SEN provision
- SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Carlisle
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,462
- Pupils on roll
- 1,312
- URN
- 137252
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01697745700
About this school
William Howard School is a secondary academy in Brampton. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,312 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
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 25 June 2025, where inspectors found that standards have been maintained. 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 | 205 | 224 | 208 |
| Attainment 8 score | 44.4 | 42.0 | 45.0 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.36 -0.55 to -0.16 | -0.19 -0.38 to 0.00 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 39% | 33.5% | 42.8% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 63% | 60.3% | 59.1% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 30% | 34.4% | 34.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 3.7 | 4.1 |
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 William Howard 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 | 44.4 | 36.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 45 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.2% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,333 |
| 2023/24 | 1,346 |
| 2024/25 | 1,303 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How William Howard School compares
William Howard School ranked 4th of 19 secondary schools in Cumberland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 57% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 45 | 7.9% | 20.1% | 1,312 | — |
| St John Henry Newman Catholic School | 41 | 10% | 33.8% | 703 | 7.4 miles |
| Richard Rose Central Academy | 42.3 | 10.8% | 32.5% | 1,035 | 7.9 miles |
| Trinity School | 41.4 | 10.3% | 22.1% | 1,711 | 8.2 miles |
| Richard Rose Morton Academy | 43.4 | 7.9% | 25.7% | 905 | 10.1 miles |
| Caldew School | 44.3 | 8.7% | 20.4% | 990 | 11.7 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)
- 20.09%
- English as an additional language
- 4.1%
- Overall absence
- 7.93%
- Persistent absence
- 22.61%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St John Henry Newman Catholic School7.4 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
Richard Rose Central Academy7.9 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
Trinity School8.2 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
Richard Rose Morton Academy10.1 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
Caldew School11.7 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
Other schools in Brampton
- Brampton Primary School Primary
- Castle Carrock School Primary
- Fir Ends Primary School Primary
- Gilsland CofE Primary School Primary
- Greenhead Church of England Nursery and Primary School Primary
- Hallbankgate Village School Primary
- Hayton CofE Primary School Primary
- Lanercost CofE Primary School Primary
- Walton & Lees Hill CofE School Primary
- Kirby Moor School Special schools
Common questions
- What year groups does William Howard School teach?
- William Howard School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Brampton.
- Who is the headteacher of William Howard School?
- The headteacher of William Howard School is Ms Kath Pigdon, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was William Howard School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected William Howard 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 William Howard School?
- William Howard School has 1,312 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is William Howard School full?
- William Howard School has capacity for 1,462 pupils and 1,312 on roll (90%), 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 William Howard School a faith school?
- No. William Howard School has no designated religious character.
- Is William Howard School a selective school?
- No. William Howard School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs William Howard School?
- William Howard School is part of CUMBRIA EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does William Howard School have?
- The schools register lists William Howard School's special educational needs provision as: SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have William Howard School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 44.4 in 2022/23 and 45 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does William Howard School rank locally?
- William Howard School ranked 4th of 19 secondary schools in Cumberland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 57% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 17% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is William Howard School's absence rate?
- William Howard School's overall absence rate is 7.9% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are William Howard School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, William Howard 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 1 July 2026.