Ghyllside Primary School
Gillinggate, Kendal, LA9 4JB
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 3 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- GHYLLSIDE SCHOOL
- Headteacher
- Mr Huw Davies
- Nursery provision
- Has Nursery Classes
- Constituency
- Westmorland and Lonsdale
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 459
- Pupils on roll
- 424
- URN
- 138744
- Local authority
- Westmorland and Furness
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01539814930
About this school
Ghyllside Primary School is a primary academy in Kendal. It teaches children aged 3 to 11 and has 424 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 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Early years
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 59 | 62 | 59 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 61% | 69% | 78% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 10% | 6% | 3% |
| Expected standard in reading | 78% | 77% | 86% |
| Expected standard in maths | 73% | 79% | 83% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 81% | 66% | 78% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 106.0 | 105.0 | 108.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 105.0 | 105.0 | 105.0 |
| Reading progress | +1.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | +1.60 | - | - |
| Maths progress | +0.50 | - | - |
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 Ghyllside Primary 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 | Westmorland and Furness average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 61% | 60.6% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 69% | 57% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 78% | 56.5% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.6% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 3.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 463 |
| 2023/24 | 451 |
| 2024/25 | 449 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Ghyllside Primary School compares
Ghyllside Primary School ranked 14th of 98 primary schools in Westmorland and Furness for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 89% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 78% | 3.7% | 14.7% | 424 | — |
| Vicarage Park CofE Primary School | — | 5.8% | 16.5% | 109 | 0.4 miles |
| Dean Gibson Catholic Primary School, Kendal | 75% | 4.2% | 6.3% | 134 | 0.4 miles |
| Stramongate Primary School | 73% | 4.7% | 23.4% | 237 | 0.6 miles |
| Heron Hill Primary School | 69% | 3.6% | 7.9% | 419 | 0.8 miles |
| St Thomas's CofE Primary School | 48% | 4.8% | 23.9% | 239 | 1.0 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
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 14.74%
- English as an additional language
- 8.2%
- Overall absence
- 3.7%
- Persistent absence
- 5.26%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Vicarage Park CofE Primary School0.4 miles
Primary · Kendal
-
Dean Gibson Catholic Primary School, Kendal0.4 miles
Primary · Kendal
-
Stramongate Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Kendal
-
Heron Hill Primary School0.8 miles
Primary · Kendal
-
St Thomas's CofE Primary School1.0 miles
Primary · Kendal
Other schools in Kendal
Ghyllside Primary School ranks 2nd of the 13 ranked primary schools in Kendal.
- Castle Park School Primary
- Crosscrake CofE Primary School Primary
- Crosthwaite CofE School Primary
- Dean Gibson Catholic Primary School, Kendal Primary
- Grayrigg CofE School Primary
- Heron Hill Primary School Primary
- Levens CofE School Primary
- Old Hutton CofE School Primary
- Selside Endowed CofE Primary School Primary
- St Oswald's CofE Primary School Primary
- St Patrick's CofE School Primary
- St Thomas's CofE Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Ghyllside Primary School teach?
- Ghyllside Primary School teaches children aged 3 to 11. It is a primary school in Kendal.
- Who is the headteacher of Ghyllside Primary School?
- The headteacher of Ghyllside Primary School is Mr Huw Davies, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Ghyllside Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Ghyllside Primary 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 Ghyllside Primary School?
- Ghyllside Primary School has 424 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 3 to 11.
- Is Ghyllside Primary School full?
- Ghyllside Primary School has capacity for 459 pupils and 424 on roll (92%), 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 Ghyllside Primary School a faith school?
- No. Ghyllside Primary School has no designated religious character.
- Does Ghyllside Primary School have a nursery?
- Yes. The schools register records Ghyllside Primary School as having nursery classes.
- Who runs Ghyllside Primary School?
- Ghyllside Primary School is part of GHYLLSIDE SCHOOL. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Ghyllside Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 61% in 2022/23 and 78% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Ghyllside Primary School rank locally?
- Ghyllside Primary School ranked 14th of 98 primary schools in Westmorland and Furness for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 84% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 89% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Ghyllside Primary School's absence rate?
- Ghyllside Primary School's overall absence rate is 3.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Ghyllside Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Ghyllside Primary 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.