UK Schools
Dowdales School
Dowdales School is a mixed local-authority maintained secondary school in Dalton-in-Furness, Westmorland and Furness Council, teaching 877 pupils aged 11 to 16. It was last inspected by Ofsted in February 2025. In 2024–2025, GCSE Attainment 8 was 41.8 (England 46.1). The 2025–2026 school year runs from 19 December 2025 to 17 July 2026.
Ofsted inspection
The latest published Ofsted judgement for Dowdales School.
Term dates & holidays 2025–2026
Autumn, spring and summer terms, half-terms, INSET days and bank holidays for Dowdales School.
- 1–2 Inset Days for staff (closed to students)
- 3 School opens for students
- 27–31 Autumn Half-term Holiday
- 19 Autumn Term ends
- 22–31 Christmas Holiday
- 25 Christmas Day
- 26 Boxing Day
- 1–2 Christmas Holiday
- 1 New Year’s Day
- 6 Inset Day for staff (closed to students)
- 7 School opens for students
- 16–20 Spring Half-term Holiday
- 27 Spring Term ends
- 3 Good Friday
- 6 Easter Monday
- 6–10 Easter Holiday
- 13 Summer Term starts
- 4 Early May Bank Holiday
- 25–29 Summer Half-term Holiday
- 17 Summer Term ends
- 18–31 Summer Holiday
- 1–31 Summer Holiday
- 31 Summer Bank Holiday
Key dates (2025–2026)
- Inset Days for staff (closed to students) Sep 1-2, 2025 Inset Day
- School opens for students Sep 3, 2025 Event
- Autumn Half-term Holiday Oct 27-31, 2025 Holiday
- Autumn Term ends Dec 19, 2025 Term
- Christmas Holiday Dec 22, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026 Holiday
- Inset Day for staff (closed to students) Jan 6, 2026 Inset Day
- School opens for students Jan 7, 2026 Event
- Spring Half-term Holiday Feb 16-20, 2026 Holiday
- Spring Term ends Mar 27, 2026 Term
- Good Friday Apr 3, 2026 Event
- Easter Monday Apr 6, 2026 Holiday
- Easter Holiday Apr 6-10, 2026 Holiday
- Summer Term starts Apr 13, 2026 Term
- Early May Bank Holiday May 4, 2026 Holiday
- Summer Half-term Holiday May 25-29, 2026 Holiday
- Summer Term ends Jul 17, 2026 Term
- Summer Holiday Jul 18 - Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
- New Year’s Day Jan 1, 2026 Event
- Summer Bank Holiday Aug 31, 2026 Holiday
- Christmas Day Dec 25, 2025 Holiday
- Boxing Day Dec 26, 2025 Event
Exam results & performance
The measures that carry the most signal. Open a section to compare Dowdales School with Westmorland and Furness Council and England.
Key stage 4 (GCSE) 41.8 Attainment 8 score
Year 11 results across eight qualifications, including English and maths.
This school Westmorland and Furness Council England
Attendance 26.9% Persistently absent pupils
Absence across the whole school year.
This school Westmorland and Furness Council England
What pupils do after GCSEs 93% In education, apprenticeship or work
Still in education, an apprenticeship or work a year after key stage 4.
This school Westmorland and Furness Council England
About this data source & caveats
Progress 8 is not published for 2024–2025. This year group missed their key stage 2 tests in 2020, so there is no baseline to measure progress from.
Attendance comparisons are pupil-weighted averages we calculate from every school’s published absence figure — the DfE absence file has no local authority or England rows of its own.
We show the headline measures only. Threshold and curriculum-policy figures — grade 4+ in English and maths, EBacc entry and points, the per-subject key stage 2 breakdown, academic and applied splits at 16 to 18 — reflect admissions and curriculum choices more than school quality, so they are left to GOV.UK. Progress measures matter most because they compare pupils with others who started at the same level; attainment on its own largely tracks a school’s intake.
Figures are the Department for Education’s official published results for Dowdales School. Results are suppressed where too few pupils were entered. England figures are the average for state-funded schools. “Top x%” is this school’s position among all schools in England with a published figure for that measure — the DfE does not publish league table rankings.
Source: Compare school and college performance, Department for Education. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Location & catchment area
Indicative only. This is a nearest-school (Voronoi) estimate — the area closer to Dowdales School than to any other secondary school. Real admissions depend on the school’s own policy (straight-line distance, siblings, faith, feeder schools and available places) and change each year. Always confirm with the school and local authority admissions team.