Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith

About Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith holds a Good rating from its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2023, a step down from the Outstanding grade it received in its previous inspection back in 2009. But the real story here is in the exam data. The school’s Progress 8 score sits at 0.35, which is well above the national average and places it in the top 25 per cent of schools nationally. That score means pupils here make significantly more academic progress between Year 7 and Year 11 than pupils with similar starting points across the country. It also puts the school fourth out of 19 secondary schools in the Westmorland and Furness local authority, and 77th out of 445 in the North West region. The Attainment 8 score of 65 is strong, and the basics measure — the proportion of pupils achieving a grade 5 or above in both English and maths — is 91.9 per cent, a figure that reflects consistent academic standards across the core subjects.

Digging deeper into the Progress 8 breakdown, the school’s strongest subject area is maths, where the progress score is 0.48, followed by the EBacc subjects and open subjects, both at 0.41. English progress is more modest at 0.04, but still positive. The EBacc entry rate is 52.8 per cent, and 38.5 per cent of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in the EBacc combination. In the sixth form, the picture is similarly solid: the average A-level grade is a B-, with points per entry at 37.38, and the value-added score of 0.09 is rated as average. Just over a quarter of A-level entries achieved an AAB or higher. For context, the local authority average Progress 8 score is -0.12, so Queen Elizabeth Grammar School is performing comfortably above its peers in the area, and its ranking in the top 25 per cent nationally puts it in strong company.

The school is oversubscribed: for 2025/26, there were 241 applications for 153 places, with 173 first-preference applications and all 153 offers going to first-preference families — an oversubscription ratio of 1.58. It’s a mixed, non-denominational state secondary with a capacity of 1,065 and currently 1,036 pupils on roll. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is just 4.8 per cent, well below the national average. Facilities are generous for a state school: a swimming pool, theatre, sports hall, playing fields, science labs, art studios, and a dedicated sixth form centre. The school also offers a wide range of clubs and activities, including the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Model UN, orchestra, and Young Enterprise. SEND provisions cover dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorder, speech and language needs, and social, emotional and mental health support. This is a school that suits families looking for strong academic outcomes in a well-resourced setting, with a sixth form that keeps pupils on a solid trajectory.

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