Workington Academy
Stainburn Road, Stainburn, Workington, CA14 4EB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy sponsor led
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- CUMBRIA EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Mark Bedford
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- Cumbria Education Trust
- SEN provision
- PD - Physical Disability, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
- Constituency
- Whitehaven and Workington
- Setting
- Urban: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,360
- Pupils on roll
- 1,234
- URN
- 141499
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01900873926
About this school
Workington Academy is a secondary academy in Workington. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,234 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Workington Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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 | 149 | 166 | 176 |
| Attainment 8 score | 43.1 | 39.9 | 40.5 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.15 -0.08 to +0.37 | -0.19 -0.40 to +0.03 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 41% | 31.9% | 33.5% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 62% | 52.4% | 54% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 46% | 47% | 38.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
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 Workington Academy 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 | 43.1 | 36.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 39.9 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 40.5 | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.7% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.1% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,187 |
| 2023/24 | 1,276 |
| 2024/25 | 1,266 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Workington Academy compares
Workington Academy ranked 13th of 19 secondary schools in Cumberland for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 40% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 22% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 40.5 | 7.3% | 31.3% | 1,234 | — |
| St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington | 37.4 | 7.4% | 43.7% | 539 | 0.5 miles |
| Energy Coast UTC | 24.2 | 10.3% | 33% | 383 | 1.9 miles |
| Netherhall School | 39.7 | 6.6% | 39% | 894 | 5.6 miles |
| St Benedict's Catholic High School | 41.2 | 8.5% | 30.5% | 990 | 6.9 miles |
| The Whitehaven Academy | 39.7 | 8.7% | 32.2% | 859 | 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)
- 31.26%
- English as an additional language
- 1.7%
- Overall absence
- 7.34%
- Persistent absence
- 19.7%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington0.5 miles
Secondary · Workington
-
Energy Coast UTC1.9 miles
Secondary · Workington
-
Netherhall School5.6 miles
Secondary · Maryport
-
St Benedict's Catholic High School6.9 miles
Secondary · Whitehaven
-
The Whitehaven Academy7.2 miles
Secondary · Whitehaven
Other schools in Workington
- Energy Coast UTC Secondary
- St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington Secondary
- Ashfield Infant & Nursery School Primary
- Ashfield Junior School Primary
- Beckstone Primary School Primary
- Dean CofE School Primary
- Derwent Vale Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Distington Community School Primary
- Northside Primary School Primary
- Seaton Academy Primary
- Seaton St. Paul's CofE Junior School Primary
- St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Workington Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Workington Academy teach?
- Workington Academy teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Workington.
- Who is the headteacher of Workington Academy?
- The headteacher of Workington Academy is Mr Mark Bedford, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Workington Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Workington Academy, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Workington Academy?
- Workington Academy has 1,234 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Workington Academy full?
- Workington Academy has capacity for 1,360 pupils and 1,234 on roll (91%), 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 Workington Academy a faith school?
- No. Workington Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Workington Academy a selective school?
- No. Workington Academy is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Workington Academy part of an academy trust?
- Workington Academy 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 Workington Academy have?
- The schools register lists Workington Academy's special educational needs provision as: PD - Physical Disability; SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty; PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Workington Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 43.1 in 2022/23 and 40.5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Workington Academy compare with other schools in Cumberland?
- Workington Academy ranked 13th of 19 secondary schools in Cumberland for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 40% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 22% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Workington Academy's absence rate?
- Workington Academy's overall absence rate is 7.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Workington Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Workington Academy'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.