SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Carlisle, Cumberland

Caldew School

Dalston, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA5 7NN

Ofsted Good · 2022 Sixth form
School website 01228710044

Ofsted

Goodas at 21 June 2022

Graded Good at its last graded inspection, on 21 June 2022.

Ofsted stopped awarding single-word overall grades in September 2024. This grade is 4 years old and will not be updated — the school keeps it until its next inspection, which will not produce a replacement grade.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

44.3 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

39% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

62% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

41% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is around the middle of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the bottom quarter.

Progress 8 2023/24

-0.19confidence interval -0.42 to 0.05

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
C-
Average points per entry
26.2

England average 32.3

A level students
61

Pupils

Pupils on roll
990
Places
1050
How full
94% full — 990 of 1050 places taken
Girls / boys
505 / 485
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
25%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
20%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
4%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
6%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
12%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
95%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
81%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
9%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
43%
No sustained destination
4%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
164

After sixth form

Went to university
39%

England 50%

In education, work or training
82%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
12%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
49

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

12% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
56%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
57

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Carlisle 013I, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
30%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
18%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
81%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
8%

England 17%

Households with no car
15%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
47%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Academy converter
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
None
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Trust
CALDEW SCHOOL
Headteacher
Headteacher: Victoria Jackson
Local authority
Cumberland
Ward
Dalston and Burgh
Constituency
Penrith and Solway
URN
137254

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
Lime House SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.1 mi
Richard Rose Morton AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 43.4 2.5 mi
Trinity SchoolAcademy converter No grade 41.4 4 mi
Richard Rose Central AcademyAcademy sponsor led No grade 42.3 4.2 mi
St John Henry Newman Catholic SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2022 41 4.3 mi
Austin FriarsOther independent school No grade 4.4 mi
The Nelson Thomlinson SchoolVoluntary controlled school Good 2023 46.2 7.2 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
George Stephenson High SchoolFoundation school No grade 48
West Hatch High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 49.5
Alderbrook SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 54.2
Sheringham High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 47.1
Katherine Warington SchoolFree schools Good 2024 54.8
Sanders DraperAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 44.4
Honley High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 50.6
Bishop Ullathorne Catholic SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 52.9

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.