Richard Rose Morton Academy

About Richard Rose Morton Academy

Richard Rose Morton Academy is a mixed state secondary in Cumberland, a local authority where only one school of its type holds an Outstanding Ofsted rating. Among the 17 secondary schools in the area, it ranks third by Progress 8 score, placing it behind Keswick School and Cockermouth School but ahead of The Nelson Thomlinson School. The school is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, with 306 applications for 200 places and 195 first-preference offers made from 209 first-preference applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 1.53. It sits in the top 50 nationally for Progress 8 and in the 32nd percentile across the North West region. With 883 pupils against a capacity of 900, it is nearly full, and 25.6 per cent of students are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average for secondary schools.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in July 2025 judged it Good across all graded areas, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This marks a clear improvement from its previous inspection in November 2022, when it was rated Requires Improvement overall. In the 2023/24 exam results, the school achieved a Progress 8 score of 0.06, which is well above the Cumberland local authority average of -0.44 and is classified as Average nationally. Attainment 8 stood at 43.7, and 56.9 per cent of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths. The EBacc entry rate was 35.1 per cent, with 16.1 per cent achieving the EBacc at grade 4 or above. Progress in the open element of the curriculum was notably strong at 0.42, though maths Progress 8 was negative at -0.33.

The school offers a range of facilities including a swimming pool, theatre, sports hall, astro turf, tennis courts, and a sixth form centre, and runs clubs such as drama, chess, science club, gardening, choir, orchestra, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Sports on offer include football, rugby, basketball, hockey, tennis, swimming, rounders, and martial arts. SEND provisions cover specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, hearing impairment, physical disability, and autistic spectrum disorder. Parent View responses from 139 respondents between September 2024 and September 2025 show 71 per cent would recommend the school. However, only 44 per cent of parents agreed or strongly agreed that SEND children receive the support they need, and 54 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed. This school suits families in Cumberland seeking a well-subscribed secondary with improving Ofsted grades, strong Progress 8 relative to the local authority, and a broad extracurricular offer.

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