Queen Elizabeth Studio School

Queen Elizabeth Studio School is a small studio school within Lunesdale Trust. Ofsted judges the school to be strong standard overall, with safeguarding standards met. Most areas are graded expected standard, while post-16 provision is strong standard. The school has a new headteacher and uses three registered alternative provisions. Leaders have a clear understanding of the school and have strengthened provision. Behaviour is calm and respectful, pupils feel safe and say bullying is rare. The curriculum is broad and combines academic, specialist and vocational pathways, and pupils with SEND or disadvantage are well supported to access it. Personal development and careers education are well developed, with wide enrichment and positive destinations. Sixth-form students benefit from a personalised programme and effective teaching. However, formative assessment and feedback are not consistent across subjects, so some pupils do not build securely on prior learning and teachers do not always identify gaps quickly. Persistent absence remains above national averages for a small group, although leaders' actions are helping some pupils improve. GCSE outcomes in English and maths and A-level point scores are below national averages, and the disadvantaged gap remains wide.

Strengths

• Strong sixth-form provision with personalised programmes and effective teaching
• Calm, orderly and respectful behaviour across the school
• Pupils feel safe and report that bullying is rare and dealt with quickly
• Broad curriculum combining academic, specialist and vocational pathways
• Effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Well-developed personal development and careers programme
• Wide range of enrichment activities, including Duke of Edinburgh and performances
• Clear leadership priorities and effective governance and trust oversight
• Positive destinations for pupils after key stage 4
• Staff development is prioritised, with attention to workload and wellbeing

Areas for Improvement

• Formative assessment and feedback are inconsistent across subjects
• Teachers do not always identify gaps in pupils' knowledge quickly enough
• Some pupils struggle to recall prior learning and build on it securely
• Persistent absence is above national average for a small group of pupils
• Attendance improvements are not yet consistent for all pupils
• GCSE English and maths outcomes are below national averages
• A-level average point scores are below national averages
• Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap remains wide in English and maths
• Further work is needed to improve consistency across the school

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 Queen Elizabeth Studio School attended 91.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 28.9% 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, 8.1% of pupils at Queen Elizabeth Studio School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Queen Elizabeth Studio School had 3.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 58.1% 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, 24.6% of pupils at Queen Elizabeth Studio School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.0% 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 Queen Elizabeth Studio School received £8,970 and spent £9,048 for each of its 332 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £103,000 (£310 per pupil).

Across all 2 schools of Lunesdale Learning Trust, income was £7,777 and spending £7,726 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 Westmorland And Furness · Westmorland and Furness local authority: places and applications

Queen Elizabeth Studio School is part of Lunesdale Learning Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Queen Elizabeth School

What is Queen Elizabeth Studio School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Queen Elizabeth Studio School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Queen Elizabeth Studio School last inspected by Ofsted?

Queen Elizabeth Studio School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Queen Elizabeth Studio School have?

Queen Elizabeth Studio School has 329 pupils on roll.

What age range does Queen Elizabeth Studio School cover?

Queen Elizabeth Studio School for pupils aged 14 to 19.

Where is Queen Elizabeth Studio School?

Queen Elizabeth Studio School is at Kirkby Lonsdale, LA6 2HJ.