Askam Village School

About Askam Village School

Askam Village School is a primary school in Westmorland and Furness that parents in the area clearly want to get into. For the 2025/26 intake, the school received 29 applications for 24 places, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.21. All 24 first-preference applicants were offered a place, which suggests that while the school is popular, most families who put it first are successful. The school is led by headteacher Fiona Newton and currently has 178 pupils on roll, against a capacity of 203, so there is some room for growth. It is a state-funded, mixed primary school for children aged 3 to 11, with no religious character. The school also has nursery provision, which can be a practical bonus for families with younger children looking for a single-site journey through the early years.

Academically, Askam Village School holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained across its two most recent inspections in 2016 and 2022. In its most recent graded inspection, all five key areas — quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision — were rated Good. At Key Stage 2 in the 2023/24 academic year, 52% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. This is below the local authority average of 58% for Westmorland and Furness. Looking at individual subjects, 62% met the expected standard in reading, 57% in maths, and 52% in writing. The average reading score was 102 and the average maths score was 99. The school ranks 65th out of 99 primary schools in the local authority on the combined expected standard metric, placing it in the bottom half of the LA.

The school offers a solid range of facilities and activities that give a sense of what life is like beyond the classroom. There are playing fields, a sports hall, a dining hall, an ICT suite, a sensory room, and a Forest School programme. Sports on offer include netball, football, gymnastics, rounders, dance and cross country, while clubs cover drama, book club, coding, film club, choir and science club. For families with children who have additional needs, the school lists SEND provisions for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate and severe learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, and speech, language and communication needs. The school is oversubscribed but not fiercely so, and with a Good Ofsted rating across the board, it is a solid, well-regarded local option for families in the Askam area who want a primary school with a broad extracurricular offer and a clear focus on behaviour and personal development.

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