Dowdales School
Two in three Year 11 leavers stay in education, below the England rate; most to a further education college (61%).
of Year 11 leavers stayed in education · Westmorland and Furness 78% · England 86% · DfE destination measures, pupils who left in 2023
- Ofsted
- Standards kept
- Places
- —
- Pupils
- 877
- Free school meals
- 20.8%
Ofsted: Short inspection, 5 February 2025: the last full grade still stands · report. Places: the last distance at which places were offered is not on file (it comes from Westmorland and Furness’s allocation statistics). Pupils: of 1,050 places. Free school meals: pupils eligible, a measure of family income.
Where do pupils go at 16?
DfE Key Stage 4 destination measures · 178 pupils who left Year 11 in 2023
Dowdales School has no sixth form. Of the 178 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 61% to a further education college and 18% started an apprenticeship.
Stayed in education — counted only if the pupil was still there for two terms of the next year; apprenticeships and jobs are counted the same way.
Full breakdown11
| Measure | Dowdales School | Westmorland and Furness | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 178 | 2,451 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 93% | 95% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 70% | 78% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 9% | 32% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | — | 13% |
| — further education college | 61% | 45% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 18% | 11% | 3% |
| Employment | 4% | 5% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 6% | 4% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 2% | 1% | 3% |
Which universities did they go to?
Named universities — most schools do not publish this; the official DfE figures above only say how many went to university and how selective those universities were.
universities’ answers to sch.today’s Freedom of Information requests · request tracker
What universities’ own admissions data say1
For each entry year: how many of this school’s students applied, received an offer and enrolled. Counts under five are shown as “<5” to protect individuals. Applications exclude Clearing; enrolments are students who completed registration.
| University | Entry year | Applied | Offers | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Bristol | 2025 | <5 | <5 | — |
A university’s enrolment count and a school’s own destinations list can differ: the school counts places accepted in the summer, the university counts students registered in the autumn.
How do GCSE results compare?
Attainment 8 — average GCSE points across eight subjects, English and maths counted twice; grade 5 in everything scores 50.
DfE performance tables 2024/2025 · 150 pupils in Year 11
26% got grade 5 or above in both English and maths (Westmorland and Furness 42%, England 45%).
Grade 5 — a “strong pass”; grade 4 is a “standard pass”. Progress 8 is not published for 2025: this cohort had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020–21, so there is no baseline.
All GCSE measures10
| Measure | Dowdales School | Westmorland and Furness | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 41.8 | 45.4 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 26% | 42% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 52% | 63% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 20% | 24% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.41 | 3.90 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 17% | 17% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 35.8 | 34.1 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 42.9 | 47.7 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 3% | 5% | 19% |
What do pupils study?
Mapped — the share of the 2,029 learning outcomes the Department for Education sets for these stages that the subjects taken here cover, weighted by how many pupils take each.
DfE subject entries 2025 · curriculum catalogue by sch.today
Art and Design stands out at GCSE — 34% of the year group took it, against 7% across England.
Fields of knowledge — twelve fields the curriculum catalogue sorts every learning outcome into; the bars show the GCSE and A level ring.
GCSE subjects20
Entries as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 147 | 98% | 89% | 6% | 20% | 67% |
| Mathematics | 147 | 98% | 88% | 7% | 22% | 59% |
| English Literature | 147 | 98% | 86% | 10% | 21% | 68% |
| Combined Science | 107 | 71% | 65% | 5% | 9% | 54% |
| Geography | 69 | 46% | 41% | 12% | 25% | 45% |
| History | 63 | 42% | 41% | 10% | 26% | 48% |
| Art and Design | 51 | 34% | 7% | 22% | 24% | 84% |
| Physics | 40 | 27% | 23% | 18% | 46% | 78% |
| Chemistry | 40 | 27% | 23% | 18% | 47% | 68% |
| Biology | 39 | 26% | 23% | 18% | 45% | 74% |
| Media Studies | 29 | 19% | 4% | 10% | 20% | 52% |
| German | 29 | 19% | 5% | 10% | 33% | 83% |
| Design and Technology | 28 | 19% | 11% | 7% | 23% | 61% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 22 | 15% | 8% | 23% | 21% | 82% |
| Citizenship Studies | 21 | 14% | 3% | 0% | 19% | 86% |
| Dance | 17 | 11% | 1% | 12% | 27% | 59% |
| Computer Science | 17 | 11% | 13% | 18% | 30% | 47% |
| French | 15 | 10% | 18% | 13% | 29% | 60% |
| Drama | 14 | 9% | 7% | 14% | 27% | 93% |
| Music | 8 | 5% | 5% | 0% | 33% | 63% |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications5
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing Engineering | 38 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 35 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 29 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 24 | — | — |
| Sports / Movement Science | 5 | — | — |
Fields of knowledge, all stages12
Ideas pupils meet most, weighted by the share of the cohort taking the subjects that teach them:
Coverage counts a subject’s outcomes in proportion to the share of the cohort entered for it; Combined Science counts as two thirds of the three separate sciences. Levels follow ISCED 2011 as UNESCO maps it for the UK: Key Stage 3 is ISCED 2; GCSE and A level are both ISCED 3. Methodology: about the data.
Which jobs use what’s taught here?
A match of what’s taught, not of entry requirements: the standards whose knowledge and skills share the most ideas with the GCSEs and A levels taken here, weighted by how many pupils take each subject.
Level 3 / Level 6 — England’s qualification levels: 3 is A level standard, 4–5 are higher apprenticeships, 6 is a bachelor’s degree.
Skills England apprenticeship standards (Open Government Licence v3.0) · ESCO occupations, © European Union, matched by sch.today · how the match works
More apprenticeships9
How do you get a place?
The last distance at which Dowdales School offered Year 7 places is not yet on file; it comes from Westmorland and Furness’s allocation statistics.
- 31 OctApply to Westmorland and Furness in Year 6 for a Year 7 place
- 1 MarNational Offer Day
Compare with nearby schools
More Westmorland and Furness schools3
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.