Workington Academy

Workington Academy is performing strongly overall. Inspectors found a calm, respectful and inclusive school where leaders’ high expectations are reflected in pupils’ behaviour and attendance, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school’s work on inclusion, personal development, leadership and governance is a notable strength. Pupils are well supported, feel heard and benefit from a broad enrichment and careers programme. The school is part of Cumbria Education Trust and serves a community facing significant deprivation and other challenges, including mental ill health and low reading ages. Leaders have built robust systems to identify and reduce barriers, use pupil premium funding well, and support pupils in alternative provision and a resourced SEND provision. Staff feel valued and parents recognise the rapid improvements made at the school. Achievement, curriculum and teaching, and post-16 provision are at the expected standard rather than the stronger level seen elsewhere. Recent examination results are broadly in line with national averages overall, but GCSE English and maths attainment and A-level attainment are below national averages, and disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes remain a gap. Inspectors also noted variability in how some teachers use assessment information. The next step is to embed high-quality teaching consistently so outcomes in national assessments improve.

Strengths

• Calm, respectful school culture with high expectations for behaviour
• Strong attendance, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND
• Highly effective inclusion systems that identify and reduce barriers
• Astute use of pupil premium funding to widen access
• Strong personal development programme with extensive enrichment and careers guidance
• Clear, unified leadership vision with effective governance and trust oversight
• Staff feel valued and benefit from well-planned professional development
• Pupils with SEND make particularly positive progress
• Safeguarding culture is open and meets requirements
• Pupils feel heard and contribute to school improvement

Areas for Improvement

• GCSE English and maths attainment is below the national average
• Disadvantaged pupils’ English and maths outcomes are well below the national average
• A-level attainment and value added are below the national average
• Some gaps in sixth-form students’ knowledge persist
• Use of assessment information varies across some subjects and year groups
• Attendance for recently arrived pupils with mental ill health is below the national average, though improving
• Need to embed high-quality teaching consistently to improve national assessment outcomes

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Workington Academy attended 92.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 19.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 8.8% of pupils at Workington Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 7 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Workington Academy had 17.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 12.6% of pupils at Workington Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.3% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Workington Academy received £8,210 and spent £7,777 for each of its 1,272 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £968,000 (£761 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of Cumbria Education Trust, income was £7,121 and spending £7,168 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Workington · Cumberland local authority: places and applications

Workington Academy is part of Cumbria Education Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Northside Primary School Workington
• The Whitehaven Academy Whitehaven
• Hensingham Primary School Whitehaven
• Yewdale School Carlisle
• Newtown Primary School Carlisle
• Caldew Lea School Carlisle
• Petteril Bank School Carlisle
• Yanwath Primary School Penrith
• Longtown Primary School Carlisle
• Castle Carrock School Brampton

What is Workington Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Workington Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Workington Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Workington Academy was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Workington Academy have?

Workington Academy has 1,234 pupils on roll.

What age range does Workington Academy cover?

Workington Academy for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Workington Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 40.9, and 34% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Workington Academy?

Workington Academy is at Stainburn Road, Stainburn, Workington, Cumbria, CA14 4EB.