Dowdales School
Performance (KS4 GCSE)
Three-year trends
Last three years of DfE data. How to read trends
Getting a place
Red dashed line = one first choice per place. How to read this
Every child who put Dowdales School first was offered a place in 2026, so no distance cut-off applied: living further away did not cost a place that year.
Application figures: DfE, school level applications and offers (2026 intake).
School profile
- Age range
- 11–16
- Pupils on roll
- 827
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Admissions
- Non-Selective
Pupil background
Special educational needs
Attendance
Staffing & funding
“Typical” = the median secondary school in England. What this means
What pupils do next
The share of this school's Year 11 leavers in education, training or employment for at least two terms afterwards.
DfE, KS4 destination measures.
Nearby secondary schools
Location
Official sources
Dowdales School at a glance
Located in Dalton-in-Furness, Westmorland and Furness, Dowdales School is a secondary school, classified by the DfE as a community school. The school educates roughly 827 pupils aged 11 to 16. The school's average Attainment 8 score in the latest GCSE results was 41.8 — below the national average (national average: 46). Its Attainment 8 score has fallen by 2.3 points compared with the previous year. On our composite score, which combines the DfE attainment measures above, this places it in the lower half of secondary schools nationally.
26% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, well below the national average of about 45%. 52% achieved a standard pass (grade 4+) in English and maths. Getting a place is straightforward: for the September 2026 intake every family who made Dowdales School their first choice was offered one of its 160 Year 7 places. After Year 11, 93% of its leavers went on to education, an apprenticeship or work that they stayed in for at least two terms. Overall pupil absence was 10.1%. There are about 17.4 pupils per teacher. Dowdales School does not currently have a recent graded Ofsted judgement on record (often the case for newer or recently converted schools), so it is worth asking when its next inspection is expected. This overview is generated automatically from the latest published DfE performance tables and Ofsted data; figures are rounded, and you can check the originals via the official links above.