Samuel King's School
Secondary · Foundation school · Mixed · Westmorland and Furness
Church Road, Alston, CA9 3QU
52
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
School remains Good
No graded inspection
Application demand
92%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
88.4%
32.1% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
113
Capacity used
Has space48%
235 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
92%
1st preference success rate
22 of 24 families who put it first got an offer
23
Places offered
31
Total applications
1.3
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 24 | 22 | ● 92% |
| 2nd preference | 7 | 1 | ● 14% |
| 3rd preference | 0 | 0 | — |
| Total | 31 | 23 | 74% |
1st preference success by year
Westmorland and Furness lets families list 3 preferences. 15 applications came from outside the council area (8 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Foundation school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- No
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Rob Dawson
- Address
- Church Road, Alston, CA9 3QU
- Phone
- 01434381236
- Local authority
- Westmorland and Furness
- Ward / constituency
- Alston and Fellside · Penrith and Solway
- Area
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- URN
- 112378
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 19% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 0% | — | — |
| SEN support | 26% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
113 pupils · 235 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 22
06 July 2022
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 112 pupils
Attendance
88.4%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
11.6%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
32.1%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
7.1%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
2.6%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 36.4 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | -0.24 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 23% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 54% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 2.92 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 30.2 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 23.1% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 30.8% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 15.4% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 2.37 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 13 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2018/2019)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 13 | 0% | 23% | 38% | |
| English Language | 12 | 0% | 25% | 33% | |
| English Literature | 12 | 0% | 8% | 33% | |
| Biology | 6 | 0% | 50% | 67% | |
| Physics | 6 | 0% | 67% | 67% | |
| Chemistry | 6 | 0% | 33% | 67% | |
| Statistics | 6 | 17% | 33% | 33% | |
| Geography | 5 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Combined Science | 4 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| French | 3 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Art and Design | 3 | 0% | 0% | 0% | |
| Computer Science | 3 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Westmorland and Furness council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.