Carnforth High School
Kellet Road, Carnforth, LA5 9LS
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Trust
- THE BAY LEARNING TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Paul Stanisforth
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sponsor
- The Bay Learning Trust
- Constituency
- Morecambe and Lunesdale
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 754
- Pupils on roll
- 657
- URN
- 145082
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01524732424
About this school
Carnforth High School is a secondary academy in Carnforth. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 657 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Carnforth High School, 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 no longer gives schools a single overall grade. Each area of the school's work is graded on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is judged separately.
- Inclusion
- Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching
- Needs attention
- Achievement
- Needs attention
- Attendance and behaviour
- Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing
- Expected standard
- Leadership and governance
- Expected standard
- Safeguarding
- Met
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 126 | 116 | 120 |
| Attainment 8 score | 41.5 | 40.2 | 39.8 |
| Progress 8 score | -0.34 -0.59 to -0.10 | -0.29 -0.55 to -0.03 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 24% | 29.3% | 29.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 59% | 54.3% | 56.7% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 24% | 30.2% | 14.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
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 Carnforth High 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 | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 41.5 | 38.1 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 40.2 | 37.6 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 39.8 | 37 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 11.2% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 11.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 12% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 650 |
| 2023/24 | 672 |
| 2024/25 | 685 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Carnforth High School compares
Carnforth High School ranked 60th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 38% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39.8 | 12% | 31.8% | 657 | — |
| Lancaster High School | 35.6 | 14.2% | 46.5% | 567 | 5.0 miles |
| Morecambe Bay Academy | 36.8 | 12.6% | 40.6% | 1,045 | 5.0 miles |
| Our Lady's Catholic College | 41.3 | 11.6% | 40.6% | 981 | 5.2 miles |
| Lancaster Royal Grammar School | 74.1 | 6.1% | 8.1% | 1,294 | 5.6 miles |
| Lancaster Girls' Grammar School | 73.4 | 5.4% | 6.6% | 1,038 | 5.8 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)
- 31.82%
- English as an additional language
- 2.6%
- Overall absence
- 11.99%
- Persistent absence
- 33.1%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Lancaster High School5.0 miles
Secondary · Lancaster
-
Morecambe Bay Academy5.0 miles
Secondary · Morecambe
-
Our Lady's Catholic College5.2 miles
Secondary · Lancaster
-
Lancaster Royal Grammar School5.6 miles
Secondary · Lancaster
-
Lancaster Girls' Grammar School5.8 miles
Secondary · Lancaster
Other schools in Carnforth
- Arkholme Church of England Primary School Primary
- Arnside National CofE School Primary
- Bolton-le-Sands Church of England Primary School Primary
- Burton Morewood CofE Primary School Primary
- Carnforth Christ Church, Church of England, Voluntary Aided Primary School Primary
- Carnforth Community Primary School Primary
- Holme Primary School Primary
- Ingleton Primary School Primary
- Melling St Wilfrid Church of England Primary School Primary
- Nether Kellet Community Primary School Primary
- Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School, Carnforth Primary
- Over Kellet Wilson's Endowed Church of England Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Carnforth High School teach?
- Carnforth High School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Carnforth.
- Who is the headteacher of Carnforth High School?
- The headteacher of Carnforth High School is Mr Paul Stanisforth, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Carnforth High School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Carnforth High 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 many pupils are at Carnforth High School?
- Carnforth High School has 657 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Carnforth High School full?
- Carnforth High School has capacity for 754 pupils and 657 on roll (87%), 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 Carnforth High School a faith school?
- No. Carnforth High School has no designated religious character.
- Is Carnforth High School a selective school?
- No. Carnforth High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Is Carnforth High School part of an academy trust?
- Carnforth High School is part of THE BAY LEARNING TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Carnforth High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 41.5 in 2022/23 and 39.8 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Carnforth High School compare with other schools in Lancashire?
- Carnforth High School ranked 60th of 81 secondary schools in Lancashire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 38% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 4% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Carnforth High School's absence rate?
- Carnforth High School's overall absence rate is 12% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Carnforth High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Carnforth High 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 15 July 2026.