Caldew School
Dalston, Carlisle, CA5 7NN
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- CALDEW SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Ms Victoria Jackson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Penrith and Solway
- Setting
- Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,050
- Pupils on roll
- 990
- URN
- 137254
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01228710044
About this school
Caldew School is a secondary academy in Carlisle. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 990 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
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 | 164 | 145 | 168 |
| Attainment 8 score | 45.1 | 42.4 | 44.3 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.10 -0.32 to +0.12 | -0.19 -0.42 to +0.05 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 38% | 38.6% | 38.7% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 65% | 50.3% | 61.9% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 41% | 28.3% | 40.5% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
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 Caldew 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 | 45.1 | 36.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 42.4 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 44.3 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 9.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 8.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 961 |
| 2023/24 | 977 |
| 2024/25 | 989 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Caldew School compares
Caldew School ranked 6th of 19 secondary schools in Cumberland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 54% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 44.3 | 8.7% | 20.4% | 990 | — |
| Richard Rose Morton Academy | 43.4 | 7.9% | 25.7% | 905 | 2.5 miles |
| Trinity School | 41.4 | 10.3% | 22.1% | 1,711 | 4.0 miles |
| Richard Rose Central Academy | 42.3 | 10.8% | 32.5% | 1,035 | 4.2 miles |
| St John Henry Newman Catholic School | 41 | 10% | 33.8% | 703 | 4.3 miles |
| The Nelson Thomlinson School | 46.2 | 9.1% | 14.2% | 1,095 | 7.2 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)
- 20.41%
- English as an additional language
- 3.8%
- Overall absence
- 8.69%
- Persistent absence
- 25.16%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Richard Rose Morton Academy2.5 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
Trinity School4.0 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
Richard Rose Central Academy4.2 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
St John Henry Newman Catholic School4.3 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
The Nelson Thomlinson School7.2 miles
Secondary · Wigton
Other schools in Carlisle
Caldew School ranks 1st of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Carlisle.
- Richard Rose Central Academy Secondary
- Richard Rose Morton Academy Secondary
- St John Henry Newman Catholic School Secondary
- Trinity School Secondary
- Armathwaite School Primary
- Belle Vue Primary School Primary
- Bewcastle School Primary
- Blackford CofE Primary School Primary
- Brook Street Primary School Primary
- Burgh by Sands School Primary
- Caldew Lea School Primary
- Crosby-on-Eden CofE School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Caldew School teach?
- Caldew School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Carlisle.
- Who is the headteacher of Caldew School?
- The headteacher of Caldew School is Ms Victoria Jackson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Caldew School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Caldew 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 Caldew School?
- Caldew School has 990 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Caldew School full?
- Caldew School has capacity for 1,050 pupils and 990 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 Caldew School a faith school?
- No. Caldew School has no designated religious character.
- Is Caldew School a selective school?
- No. Caldew School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Caldew School?
- Caldew School is part of CALDEW SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Caldew School have?
- The schools register lists Caldew School's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Caldew School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 45.1 in 2022/23 and 44.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Caldew School rank locally?
- Caldew School ranked 6th of 19 secondary schools in Cumberland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 54% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 13% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Caldew School's absence rate?
- Caldew School's overall absence rate is 8.7% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Caldew School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Caldew 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.