Dowdales School

State-Funded School

dowdales-school-westmorland-and-furness-north-west

North WestRegion

Westmorland and FurnessLocal Authority

Barrow and FurnessConstituency

LA15 8AHPostcode

2.3

Academic Performance

Ofsted

About the School

Dowdales School is a state-funded secondary for pupils aged 11–16, located in Westmorland and Furness, North West.

The school is rated Good by Ofsted. It currently serves 877 pupils.

Ofsted Rating

Safeguarding effective

Yes

Rating last maintained

2025

Subject Areas

Leadership &management

Good

Academic Performance

Below average

Ranked against secondary schools in England · 2024-25

Attainment 8: 41.8
Grade 5+ in English & maths: 26%
EBacc average point score: 3.41

Ethnicity

White

95%

Asian

<1%

Black

<1%

Mixed

Chinese

<1%

Any other group

<1%

Unclassified

<1%

Pupils

877

Total Pupils

48%Boys

52%Girls

Pupil Characteristics

Free school meals

21%

England average

27%

First language not English

England average

22%

Young carers

<1%

England average

0%25%50%75%100%

DfE school census, January 2026.

Key Information

Phase: Secondary
Age range: 11 – 16
Deprivation band: Less deprived
Total pupils: 877
IDACI quintile: 2 (More deprived)

Inspection history

Ofsted has published one graded inspection for this school. The most recent ungraded inspection is shown below.

Standards maintained

Ungraded inspection on 5 February 2025. An ungraded inspection checks whether the existing grade still holds; it does not award a new one.

Read the inspection letter on Ofsted

Report published					Overall
10 Sept 2019	Good	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Not reported in this inspection	Good

A grey dot means Ofsted did not report that judgement in the inspection of the day — the sub-judgements shown here were introduced with the 2019 framework.

Ofsted data as at 31 December 2024. A school may have been inspected since, or had an ungraded visit that does not change its grade — check Ofsted’s own record.