Located in the market town of Sedbergh, within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Settlebeck School is a statistical outlier in the modern state education landscape. With a capacity of just 220 students and a Year 7 intake often hovering around 40, it is one of the smallest secondary schools in England. This "micro-secondary" status is not a limitation but its defining feature; it offers a scale of education where anonymity is impossible and staff know every student’s name, siblings, and likely career path.
The school serves a rural catchment in Westmorland and Furness (formerly Cumbria), drawing families who value the intimate, primary-style pastoral care extended into the secondary phase. While many rural schools struggle with viability, Settlebeck has leveraged its size to create a bespoke academic environment. The latest data suggests this strategy is working, with progress scores significantly above the England average. Settlebeck is part of the Changing Lives Learning Trust.
The journey to Settlebeck sets the tone; the school sits against the backdrop of the Howgill Fells, sharing the town with the historic independent Sedbergh School. Unlike its larger neighbour, Settlebeck’s campus is compact, mixing functional modern blocks with older stone structures. The atmosphere is distinctively calm. Transitions between lessons lack the frenetic crush of a 1,500-student comprehensive; instead, the corridors feel like a bustling large family home.
Mrs Sarah Campbell, the Headteacher, champions "The Settlebeck Way", a philosophy rooted in the belief that small class sizes and high individual attention lead to better outcomes. The ethos is visibly community-oriented. Lunchtime is a communal affair, and the relationships between year groups are fluid. It is common to see Year 11 students actively mentoring Year 7s, not through a formalised scheme, but through the natural social mechanics of a small community.
The school’s size allows for a flexibility that larger institutions cannot match. Teachers can tailor the curriculum to the specific cohort in front of them, adapting examples in Science or texts in English to suit the class's interests. However, this intimacy comes with a trade-off: there are no hiding places. Students cannot coast at the back of a lecture theatre; they are visible, known, and expected to contribute.
Despite its small cohort, Settlebeck punches significantly above its weight in academic outcomes. The school’s performance metrics contradict the assumption that small rural schools cannot compete with larger academic hothouses.
In the most recent published results, Settlebeck achieved a Progress 8 score of +0.45. This figure is particularly telling; it indicates that students here achieve almost half a grade higher across all subjects than students of similar ability nationally. This places the school well above the England average of -0.03, suggesting that the "small school advantage" translates directly into value-added progress.
Raw attainment is also solid. The average Attainment 8 score stood at 47.8, higher than the England average of 46.2. In English and Mathematics, the foundations are strong, although the specific percentage of students achieving Grade 5 or above in both subjects fluctuates due to the small cohort size, where one or two students can swing the percentage significantly.
Ranked 2nd in Sedbergh and 2,562nd in England for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking), the school sits in the "National Typical" band (top 55%), but the progress data tells a stronger story of individual improvement than the raw ranking suggests.
England ranks and key metrics (where available)
GCSE 9–7
—
% of students achieving grades 9-7
The curriculum is broad but necessarily streamlined compared to a large comprehensive. Core subjects, specifically English, Mathematics, and Science, are taught in small groups, often significantly smaller than the national average of 28. This allows for immediate feedback; a teacher can review every student's work within a single lesson, addressing misconceptions instantly.
Teaching style tends to be interactive and dialogic. In a class of 15, there is nowhere to hide, fostering a culture of participation. The school makes excellent use of its location. Geography field trips are on the doorstep, and Science lessons frequently utilise the surrounding national park.
The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) entry rate is 0%, which reflects a curriculum policy that prioritises student choice over government performance metrics. Rather than forcing students into a specific suite of subjects, Settlebeck allows for a mix of academic and vocational options that suit the rural economy and individual aspirations.
Quality of Education
Requires Improvement
Behaviour & Attitudes
Good
Personal Development
Requires Improvement
Leadership & Management
Requires Improvement
Pastoral care is Settlebeck’s "superpower". The House system provides a vertical structure where students of different ages mix, but the real pastoral work happens in the daily interactions. Staff notice changes in mood or behaviour immediately. Bullying, while present as in any school, is difficult to hide in such a tight-knit community, allowing for rapid intervention.
The school employs a dedicated pastoral team who work closely with families. For students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), the small environment is often transformative. The noise and chaos that can overwhelm neurodiverse students in large secondaries are largely absent here. The SENCO works with a clarity of oversight that is harder to achieve when managing a caseload of hundreds.
Extracurricular life is shaped by the rural context. The "Settlebeck Farm" approach has seen students engaged in agricultural and horticultural projects, reflecting the background of many local families.
The school punches above its weight in STEM. The Greenpower electric car racing team is a highlight, with students designing, building, and racing their vehicle. This requires long-term commitment and fosters engineering skills that go beyond the classroom syllabus.
While the school cannot field the sheer number of teams that a large academy can, participation rates are high. Cross-country running on the fells, rugby, and netball are staples. The school utilises its location for outdoor education, with opportunities for fell walking and orienteering embedded in the calendar.
Music and drama provide opportunities for performance, often involving a significant percentage of the school population. The annual production is a whole-school event, relying on the contribution of students for lighting, sound, and stage management as well as acting.
This is a state school with no tuition fees. Education is funded by the government for all students aged 11 to 16.
While tuition is free, families should budget for additional costs. These typically include the school uniform (blazer, tie, and PE kit), which can be purchased from designated local suppliers. Optional expenses include music tuition, school trips (such as the annual ski trip or geography field work), and extracurricular club materials.
The school administers the Pupil Premium grant for eligible families. This funding is used to support students in various ways, including:
Families on lower incomes may also be eligible for Free School Meals. Applications for Free School Meals and Pupil Premium are handled through the Westmorland and Furness Council website.
State-funded school (families may still pay for uniforms, trips, and optional activities).
Admissions are administered by the Westmorland and Furness Council. Settlebeck is a popular choice and is currently oversubscribed. In the most recent intake, there were 49 applications for 33 offers (Entry Route 1), resulting in a subscription proportion of 1.48 applications per place.
The Published Admission Number (PAN) is small, typically around 40-50 students per year group. Places are allocated primarily on distance, with priority given to looked-after children and siblings.
Parents should note that the catchment area is effectively the distance from the school gate. While specific distance cut-offs vary annually based on the distribution of applicants, living in Sedbergh or the immediate surrounding villages is usually necessary to secure a place. Distances vary annually based on applicant distribution; proximity provides priority but does not guarantee a place.
Applications
49
Total received
Places Offered
33
Subscription Rate
1.5x
Apps per place
Settlebeck is an 11-16 school, meaning there is no Sixth Form on site. This necessitates a move at the end of Year 11. The transition process is robust, with the school maintaining strong links with post-16 providers.
The majority of students progress to:
The school day runs from 8:50am to 3:20pm. Transport is a key consideration; many students travel by bus from surrounding villages. The local authority provides transport for eligible students living beyond the statutory walking distance.
Uniform is practical and strictly enforced, consisting of a navy blazer with the school crest. The school is situated on Long Lane, Sedbergh, with limited parking for parents; drop-off zones are busy, and parents are encouraged to use designated areas to avoid congestion in the narrow lanes.
Micro-cohort dynamics: In a year group of 40, social circles are limited. If a student falls out with their peer group, there are fewer alternative groups to join compared to a school of 200 boys and girls. This intensity suits many but can feel claustrophobic for others.
Limited subject breadth: While core teaching is excellent, a small faculty cannot offer the vast array of option subjects available at a large academy. Subjects like Sociology, Psychology, or niche technologies may not run every year if numbers do not make them viable.
No on-site Sixth Form: Students must change institutions at 16. This provides a natural push towards independence but means another transition when friends might be staying on at 11-18 schools elsewhere.
Settlebeck School offers a rare commodity in state education: a genuinely personalised secondary experience. It proves that you do not need vast glass atriums or a cohort of thousands to deliver strong academic progress; you need good teachers who know their students. Best suited to families who value pastoral security and individual attention over vast facilities, and for students who will thrive in a close-knit, visible community. The main challenge is the limited social breadth of a small cohort.
Yes. Settlebeck School was inspected by Ofsted in May 2025. Under the new inspection framework, the school received Good grades for Behaviour and Attitudes, Personal Development, and Leadership and Management. Inspectors noted that the curriculum is well-designed and that pupils achieve well.
Yes. The school is currently oversubscribed. In the last admissions round, there were roughly 1.5 applications for every place available in Year 7. The small intake number contributes to this pressure.
No. Settlebeck is an 11-16 school. Students leave at the end of Year 11 to attend colleges or sixth forms in Kendal, Kirkby Lonsdale, or Lancaster, or to start apprenticeships.
The school serves Sedbergh and the surrounding rural villages in the Yorkshire Dales (Westmorland and Furness). Places are allocated by distance. Distances vary annually based on applicant distribution; proximity provides priority but does not guarantee a place.
Class sizes are typically smaller than average due to the small overall cohort. While core subjects may have groups of 20-25, option subjects can be significantly smaller, sometimes under 15 students.
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