A once-failing Whitehaven school is now one of the most improved in the UK.
Recent Department for Education 2024 Progress 8 scores show The Whitehaven Academy is ranked eighth in the list of the UK’s most improved mainstream schools.
Progress 8 is a value-added measure used to evaluate a secondary school’s performance by assessing how much progress pupils make from the end of Key Stage 2 to their GCSEs. It focuses on the improvement of all students, not just high achievers.
The ranking is the latest accolade for the transformed academy where pupils are now taught in a state-of-the-art building and a first good Ofsted rating has led to it being oversubscribed.
Headteacher Nigel Youngman, who joined the academy in 2019 a year after it became a part of Cumbria Education Trust (CET), inherited a school that had been in Special Measures since 2016. He said huge effort has gone into creating a positive school culture, recognising the existing talent amongst staff and raising aspirations of pupils.
Mr Youngman said: “Cumbria Education Trust has a reputation for taking on schools in challenging circumstances, working with them and transforming them – that was certainly the situation for Whitehaven.
“The staff at Whitehaven have been utterly committed to making the school an ambitious and kind place to be. The support of parents and the community has made this challenge all the more rewarding.”
The academy has experienced an increase of 324% in first choice admissions compared to 2019 and has now been oversubscribed for both 2024 and 2025.
A recent parental survey showed that 92% of parents would recommend the school, compared to a national average of 84%.
Kerry Lawson, a parent at The Whitehaven Academy, said: “The academy is a fantastic place for my child to learn. The staff are passionate about helping the children be the best that they can be and promote kindness and respect in all that they do.
“Creative curriculums and the amount of extra-curricular clubs offered provide a wide range of activities, so children have a chance to find the thing they are good at and that opportunity to shine. Academic, sporting, artistic and personal achievements are all rewarded and celebrated.”
Fellow parent Julie Pennington agreed: “My daughter joined as a Year 7 and completed her GCSEs in summer 2024. We were all delighted by her results and she’s now studying four A-levels with the same teaching staff that helped her gain her amazing grades at GCSE. More importantly, she loves her time here and may go on to qualify for one of the top three universities in the UK.”
The school has also received recognition for its achievements on attendance with FFT, who collect daily attendance data from more than 10,000 schools. It placed TWA in the top 25% of similar secondary schools.
In partnership with Workington Academy, TWA offers a shared sixth form, the West Coast Sixth Form, providing post-16 education. It works alongside The Access Project and Queens College, Oxford University, to support students in securing places at leading universities and on highly competitive apprenticeships.
