Carnforth High School

About Carnforth High School

Carnforth High School, a mixed state secondary for pupils aged 11 to 16 in Lancaster, holds a Good rating from Ofsted following its most recent inspection in 2021, with leadership and management judged Outstanding. The most telling exam metric is its Progress 8 score of -0.29, which places it in the 'Below average' banding nationally. This means that, on average, pupils achieve nearly a third of a grade less per subject across eight GCSEs than students with similar starting points. The school ranks 4th out of 7 secondary schools in the Lancaster local authority area on this measure, and 53rd out of 90 schools of the same type across Lancashire. Its Attainment 8 score sits at 40.2, and just over half of pupils (54.3%) achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths, though this drops to 29.3% for the stronger grade 5 threshold.

The school's Progress 8 score is notably lower than the Lancashire local authority average of -0.11, indicating that the school is not adding as much value as its peers across the county. Breaking this down, the weakest area is English, where the Progress 8 score is -0.49, followed by the open element at -0.37. Maths is closer to the national average at -0.18, and the EBacc subjects fare best at -0.16. Only 30.2% of pupils entered the EBacc suite of subjects, and a very small proportion (2.6%) achieved a grade 5 or above in it. The school's EBacc average point score is 3.43. These figures suggest that while the school provides a solid foundation for many, particularly in maths and the EBacc subjects, there is significant room for improvement in English and in stretching higher-attaining pupils.

Carnforth High School is heavily oversubscribed: for 132 places in the 2025/26 academic year, it received 520 applications, a ratio of nearly 4:1, with 105 first-preference offers made. The school serves a community with 30.9% of pupils eligible for free school meals, above the national average. Facilities are strong for a state school and include a theatre, swimming pool, sports hall, gymnasium, astro turf, music rooms, and a library. There is a wide range of SEND provision, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Clubs include the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, coding, science club, and a newspaper. This school will suit families who value a broad range of facilities and inclusive SEND support, but who are aware that academic outcomes, particularly in English, are below the local average.

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