Appleby Grammar School
Academy converter · sixth form · 357 pupils
74% stayed in education · Attainment 8 40.7
Academy sponsor led
Furness Academy
- Pupils on roll
- 1,187of 1,200 places
- Free school meals
- 29.4%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 225
- Ofsted
- Good, 13 March 2023Read the Ofsted report
Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registrations: The Alfred Barrow School (URN 112391, until 1 September 2009); Thorncliffe School - A Specialist Sports College (URN 112392, until 1 September 2009); Parkview School (URN 112436, until 1 September 2009).
What the data says
Of the 196 pupils who finished Year 11 at Furness Academy in 2023, none moved to a sixth form college, 68% to a further education college and 14% started an apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships are a real route from here: 14% of leavers started one, roughly three times the England figure of 3%.
Chemistry is unusually popular at GCSE: 74% of the year group took it, against 23% of pupils across England.
Most pupils take the three separate sciences: at least 73% sat Biology, Chemistry and Physics as individual GCSEs, compared with about 23% nationally.
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 | Furness Academy | Westmorland and Furness | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 196 | 2,451 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 92% | 95% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 72% | 78% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 4% | 32% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 0% | — | 13% |
| — further education college | 68% | 45% | 37% |
| — other education | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 14% | 11% | 3% |
| Employment | 6% | 5% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 5% | 4% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 1% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Furness Academy | Westmorland and Furness | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 42.4 | 45.4 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 36% | 42% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 58% | 63% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 29% | 24% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 3.53 | 3.90 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 30% | 17% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 33.6 | 34.1 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 46.3 | 47.7 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 2% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 218 | 97% | 88% | 11% | 22% | 69% |
| English Language | 217 | 96% | 89% | 14% | 20% | 65% |
| English Literature | 216 | 96% | 86% | 12% | 21% | 64% |
| Biology | 168 | 75% | 23% | 8% | 45% | 36% |
| Chemistry | 166 | 74% | 23% | 7% | 47% | 35% |
| Physics | 165 | 73% | 23% | 12% | 46% | 39% |
| History | 111 | 49% | 41% | 11% | 26% | 44% |
| Geography | 99 | 44% | 41% | 11% | 25% | 63% |
| Fine Art | 49 | 22% | 9% | 12% | 28% | 86% |
| Spanish | 48 | 21% | 19% | 10% | 27% | 38% |
| Combined Science | 47 | 21% | 65% | 13% | 9% | 98% |
| Design and Technology | 35 | 16% | 11% | 0% | 23% | 40% |
| French | 18 | 8% | 18% | 6% | 29% | 67% |
| Religious Studies | 15 | 7% | 31% | 13% | 32% | 67% |
| Computer Science | 11 | 5% | 13% | 18% | 30% | 55% |
| Photography | 5 | 2% | 6% | — | 19% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Studies | 86 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 58 | — | — |
| Health Studies | 48 | — | — |
| Building / Construction Operations (General / Combined) | 35 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 28 | — | — |
| Multimedia | 26 | — | — |
| Computer Appreciation / Introduction | 26 | — | — |
| Tourism | 22 | — | — |
| Beauty Care / Services | 16 | — | — |
| Speech and Drama | 12 | — | — |
| Dance: General | 9 | — | — |
| Music performance: Group | 7 | — | — |
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
John Ruskin School
Community school · 247 pupils
76% stayed in education · Attainment 8 52.9
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.