Branthwaite Academy
Branthwaite Road, Workington, CA14 4SS
- Phase
- Free Schools
- School type
- Free schools special
- Ages
- 4 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- THE EDEN ACADEMY
- Headteacher
- Miss Shelley Crowe
- Sponsor
- The Eden Academy Trust (EAT)
- SEN provision
- ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Constituency
- Whitehaven and Workington
- Setting
- Smaller rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 56
- Pupils on roll
- 74
- URN
- 143723
- Local authority
- Cumberland
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01900517632
About this school
Branthwaite Academy is a special academy in Workington. It teaches children aged 4 to 19 and has 74 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Branthwaite Academy, and its latest judgement is set out 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
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Sixth form
- Requires improvement
- 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 | 9 | 7 | 4 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | - |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | - |
| Expected standard in reading | 0% | 0% | - |
| Expected standard in maths | 0% | 0% | - |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 0% | 0% | - |
| Average scaled score in reading | - | - | - |
| Average scaled score in maths | - | - | - |
| Reading progress | -10.60 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -8.20 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -10.10 | - | - |
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.
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 9 | 6 | 2 |
| Attainment 8 score | 19.9 | 1.8 | - |
| Progress 8 score | -1.65 -2.58 to -0.73 | -3.77 -4.90 to -2.63 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 11% | 0% | - |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 33% | 0% | - |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | - |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 1.7 | 0.1 | - |
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 Branthwaite 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 | 0% | 53% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 0% | 52.2% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | — | 54.9% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | Cumberland average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 19.9 | 36.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 1.8 | 34.4 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | — | 36 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 13% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 14.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 14.8% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 56 |
| 2023/24 | 56 |
| 2024/25 | 66 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 39.66%
- English as an additional language
- 1.5%
- Overall absence
- 14.8%
- Persistent absence
- 27.12%
Location
Nearby schools
-
West Cumbria Learning Centre1.2 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Workington
-
Mayfield School5.5 miles
Special schools · Whitehaven
-
St Bees School9.2 miles
Independent schools
-
Energy Coast UTC0.5 miles
Secondary · Workington
-
Lakes College - West Cumbria1.0 miles
16 plus · Workington
Other schools in Workington
- West Cumbria Learning Centre Local authority maintained schools
- 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
- St Mary's Catholic Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Branthwaite Academy teach?
- Branthwaite Academy teaches children aged 4 to 19. It is a special school in Workington.
- Who is the headteacher of Branthwaite Academy?
- The headteacher of Branthwaite Academy is Miss Shelley Crowe, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Branthwaite Academy been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Branthwaite 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 Branthwaite Academy?
- Branthwaite Academy has 74 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 19.
- Is Branthwaite Academy full?
- Branthwaite Academy has capacity for 56 pupils and 74 on roll (132%), 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 Branthwaite Academy a faith school?
- No. Branthwaite Academy has no designated religious character.
- Is Branthwaite Academy part of an academy trust?
- Branthwaite Academy is part of THE EDEN ACADEMY. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- What SEN provision does Branthwaite Academy have?
- The schools register lists Branthwaite Academy's special educational needs provision as: ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have Branthwaite Academy's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 0% in 2022/23 and 0% in 2023/24. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is Branthwaite Academy's absence rate?
- Branthwaite Academy's overall absence rate is 14.8% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Branthwaite Academy's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Branthwaite 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 2 July 2026.