Appleby Grammar School
Academy converter · sixth form · 357 pupils
74% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.7
Academy converter
St Bernards Catholic High School, Barrow
- Pupils on roll
- 624of 916 places
- Free school meals
- 28.3%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 150
- Ofsted
- Good, 27 September 2022Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: St Bernard's Catholic High School (URN 112400, until 1 September 2021).
What the data says
St Bernards Catholic High School, Barrow has no sixth form. Of the 148 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 64% to a further education college and 19% started an apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships are a real route from here: 19% of leavers started one, roughly three times the England figure of 3%.
GCSE results in 2025 were well below the national picture: Attainment 8 of 34.6 against 46.1 across England and 45.4 in Westmorland and Furness, with 23% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Food Preparation and Nutrition is unusually popular at GCSE: 37% of the year group took it, against 8% of pupils across England.
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in Westmorland and Furness and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | This school | Westmorland and Furness | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 148 | 2,451 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 91% | 95% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 67% | 78% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 2% | 32% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | — | 13% |
| — further education college | 64% | 45% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 19% | 11% | 3% |
| Employment | 5% | 5% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 7% | 4% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 2% | 1% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | This school | Westmorland and Furness | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 34.6 | 45.4 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 23% | 42% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 43% | 63% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 19% | 24% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.01 | 3.90 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 26% | 17% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 25.5 | 34.1 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 37.8 | 47.7 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 8% | 5% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 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% | 49% |
| Mathematics | 147 | 98% | 88% | 7% | 22% | 56% |
| English Literature | 137 | 91% | 86% | 4% | 21% | 51% |
| Religious Studies | 134 | 89% | 31% | 7% | 32% | 47% |
| Combined Science | 112 | 75% | 65% | 4% | 9% | 43% |
| History | 90 | 60% | 41% | 4% | 26% | 38% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 55 | 37% | 8% | 0% | 21% | 20% |
| Geography | 54 | 36% | 41% | 0% | 25% | 26% |
| Design and Technology | 34 | 23% | 11% | 12% | 23% | 50% |
| Biology | 28 | 19% | 23% | 18% | 45% | 86% |
| Physics | 27 | 18% | 23% | 15% | 46% | 85% |
| Chemistry | 27 | 18% | 23% | 11% | 47% | 89% |
| French | 27 | 18% | 18% | 7% | 29% | 63% |
| Fine Art | 22 | 15% | 9% | 5% | 28% | 50% |
| Statistics | 13 | 9% | 5% | 8% | 20% | 92% |
| Polish | 1 | 1% | 1% | — | 84% | — |
| Modern Greek | 1 | 1% | 0% | — | 33% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 45 | — | — |
| Engineering Studies | 37 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 15 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness
Cartmel Priory CofE School
Academy converter · 371 pupils
85% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.2
Chetwynde School
Free schools · 508 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.2
Dallam School
Academy converter · sixth form · 761 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.1
Dowdales School
Community school · 877 pupils
70% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.8
Furness Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,187 pupils
72% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.4
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.