Trinity School
Strand Road, Carlisle, CA1 1JB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Trust
- TRINITY SCHOOL, A CHURCH OF ENGLAND ACADEMY
- Headteacher
- Mr David Samson
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Carlisle
- SEN provision
- HI - Hearing Impairment
- Constituency
- Carlisle
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,500
- Pupils on roll
- 1,711
- URN
- 137369
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01228516051
About this school
Trinity School is a Church of England secondary academy in Carlisle. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,711 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. 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 | 249 | 269 | 265 |
| Attainment 8 score | 42.0 | 45.2 | 41.4 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.36 -0.53 to -0.18 | -0.14 -0.31 to +0.04 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 36% | 46.1% | 30.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 57% | 67.3% | 53.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 38% | 32% | 30.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.7 | 4.0 | 3.7 |
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 Trinity 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 | 42 | 36.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 45.2 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 41.4 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.4% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 10.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,698 |
| 2023/24 | 1,694 |
| 2024/25 | 1,675 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Trinity School compares
Trinity School ranked 9th of 19 secondary schools in Cumberland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 41.4 | 10.3% | 22.1% | 1,711 | — |
| Richard Rose Central Academy | 42.3 | 10.8% | 32.5% | 1,035 | 0.3 miles |
| St John Henry Newman Catholic School | 41 | 10% | 33.8% | 703 | 1.7 miles |
| Richard Rose Morton Academy | 43.4 | 7.9% | 25.7% | 905 | 1.9 miles |
| Caldew School | 44.3 | 8.7% | 20.4% | 990 | 4.0 miles |
| William Howard School | 45 | 7.9% | 20.1% | 1,312 | 8.2 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)
- 22.06%
- English as an additional language
- 6.7%
- Overall absence
- 10.31%
- Persistent absence
- 26.75%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Richard Rose Central Academy0.3 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
St John Henry Newman Catholic School1.7 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
Richard Rose Morton Academy1.9 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
Caldew School4.0 miles
Secondary · Carlisle
-
William Howard School8.2 miles
Secondary · Brampton
Other schools in Carlisle
Trinity School ranks 4th of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Carlisle.
- Caldew School Secondary
- Richard Rose Central Academy Secondary
- Richard Rose Morton Academy Secondary
- St John Henry Newman Catholic 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 Trinity School teach?
- Trinity School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Carlisle.
- Who is the headteacher of Trinity School?
- The headteacher of Trinity School is Mr David Samson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Trinity School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Trinity 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 Trinity School?
- Trinity School has 1,711 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Trinity School full?
- Trinity School has capacity for 1,500 pupils and 1,711 on roll (114%), 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 Trinity School a faith school?
- Yes. Trinity School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Carlisle.
- Is Trinity School a selective school?
- No. Trinity School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Trinity School?
- Trinity School is part of TRINITY SCHOOL, A CHURCH OF ENGLAND ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Trinity School have?
- The schools register lists Trinity School's special educational needs provision as: HI - Hearing Impairment. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Trinity School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 42 in 2022/23 and 41.4 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Trinity School rank locally?
- Trinity School ranked 9th of 19 secondary schools in Cumberland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 43% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 7% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Trinity School's absence rate?
- Trinity School's overall absence rate is 10.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Trinity School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Trinity 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.