England · Grammar school
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith
Penrith · Mixed (co-educational) · ages 11 to 18
Official record: Get Information About Schools (URN 136732)
Overview
- Address
- Ullswater Road, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 7EG
- Status
- Open
- Admits
- Mixed (co-educational)
- Age range
- 11 to 18
- Number of pupils
- 1,026
- Capacity
- 1,065
- Eligible for free school meals
- 5%
- Sixth form
- Yes
- School type
- Academy converter
- Religious character
- None
- Trust
- CHANGING LIVES LEARNING TRUST
- Local authority
- Westmorland and Furness
Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026 · Source: Desk research (cited public sources) (get-information-schools.service.gov.uk), last checked 31 October 2026
Admissions and the 11+
- Admissions policy
- Selective (grammar school)
- Selection in this area
- Partially selective area8% of Year 7 places offered in Westmorland and Furness for September 2026 were at selective schools (DfE applications and offers). We class an area as fully selective at 25% or more. Confirm with the local authority's admissions guide.
- Entrance test
- Not yet available
- Qualifying score
- Not yet available
- Catchment area
- For September 2026 entry, 32 places go on test score alone. After looked-after children, siblings, 10 Pupil Premium places and staff children, remaining places go first to qualifying children in the school's designated catchment area (map in the policy), nearest first.
- Children from outside the catchment
- Yes: For September 2026 entry, children from anywhere can win one of the 32 score-only places. Places left after catchment children go to qualifying children from other areas, nearest first.
Past offers: lowest score and furthest distance
| Intake | Applicant group | Lowest score offered | Last distance offered | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 2026 | places offered on distanceCouncil figure, rounded to the nearest half mile. The cut-off was based on distance among children who passed the entrance exam (after the 32 places given on test score alone). | – | 29.77 km (18.50 miles) | westmorlandandfurness.gov.uksecondary source |
From published allocation data found in desk research (checked 1 November 2026); not yet confirmed with the school. Scores from different tests or years are not comparable, and a past cut-off does not guarantee a future place.
Applications and offers for Year 7
For September 2026 entry, 227 applicants named this school (175 as their first choice) for 158 places. 61 of 158 offers went to children living outside Westmorland and Furness.
| Intake | Places offered | Applicants | First choice | First choices per place | Offers to children outside Westmorland and Furness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 2026 | 158 | 227 | 175 | 1.1 | 61 |
| Sept 2025 | 153 | 241 | 173 | 1.1 | 81 |
| Sept 2024 | 158 | 231 | 179 | 1.1 | 69 |
| Sept 2023 | 160 | 237 | 185 | 1.2 | 3 |
| Sept 2022 | 159 | 271 | 219 | 1.4 | 1 |
Show all 13 years
| Intake | Places offered | Applicants | First choice | First choices per place | Offers to children outside Westmorland and Furness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 2021 | 159 | 328 | 271 | 1.7 | 0 |
| Sept 2020 | 159 | 256 | 206 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Sept 2019 | 156 | 262 | 194 | 1.2 | 2 |
| Sept 2018 | 149 | 258 | 195 | 1.3 | 1 |
| Sept 2017 | 128 | 273 | 186 | 1.5 | 0 |
| Sept 2016 | 128 | 244 | 153 | 1.2 | 0 |
| Sept 2015 | 126 | 273 | 204 | 1.6 | 3 |
| Sept 2014 | 120 | 196 | 143 | 1.2 | 0 |
"Applicants" counts every family that listed the school as any preference, so it is higher than the number competing for each place. "Outside Westmorland and Furness" means a home in another local authority; it is not the school's catchment area. For grammar schools, offers also depend on the entrance test result.
Source: Secondary and primary school applications and offers (Department for Education), last checked 31 October 2026
Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026 · Source: Admissions research (cited public sources) (qegspenrith.education), last checked 1 November 2026
Key dates
- Test registration
- Not yet available
- Test date
- Not yet available
- Results sent to families
- Not yet available
- Apply to your council (September 2027 entry)
- By 31 October 2026This date has passed: late applications go to your council and are usually considered after on-time ones.
- National offer day
- 1 March 2027Offers are sent on 1 March, or the next working day.
- Open days
- Not yet available
- School opened (current registration)
- 1 May 2011
Statutory dates: School Admissions Code (Department for Education).
Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026
Ofsted inspection
Inspected on 24 January 2023: overall Good. Read the report ↗
- Quality of education
- Good
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form provision
- Good
Inspection history (2)
Source: Ofsted inspection reports, last checked 31 October 2026
Exam results
GCSE results 2025/26 (provisional)
| Measure | This school | Selective schools in England | All state schools in England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8Average grade across 8 GCSE-level subjects, doubled for English and maths (maximum 90). | 65.2 | 72.1 | 46.2 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 85.4% | 93.7% | 46.3% |
| Grade 7 or above in English and maths | 38.6% | 57.7% | 14.2% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 93.7% | 98.3% | 64.8% |
| Progress 8Not published for most schools in recent years, because primary school tests were cancelled in 2020 and 2021. | – | – | – |
Attainment 8 over time: 65 (2023/24) → 64.8 (2024/25) → 65.2 (2025/26).
158 pupils took GCSEs. Results reflect a selective intake: compare grammar schools with each other rather than with all schools.
Source: Key stage 4 performance (GCSE results) (Department for Education), last checked 31 October 2026
How to get there
- Postcode
- CA11 7EG
- Map location
- 54.65914, -2.75799
- Open in OpenStreetMap
- Directions and surroundings ↗
- Telephone
- 01768864621
Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026
Official links and documents
- School website
- qegspenrith.education
- Official register record
- Get Information About Schools (URN 136732) ↗
- Admissions policy document
- Not yet available
- Further reading
- Wikipedia ↗
Source: Get Information About Schools, last checked 31 October 2026