What schools serve Kendal?

There are 24 schools in Kendal, Westmorland and Furness, including Kendal Nursery School, Heron Hill Primary School, Levens CofE School, Old Hutton CofE School, Staveley CofE School and more. You can view each school's catchment area guidance and admissions policy on catchment.school.

How many primary and secondary schools are in Kendal?

Kendal has 16 primary schools and 2 secondary schools. There are also 6 other schools (such as all-through or special schools) in the area. All data is sourced from the Department for Education's GIAS register.

How do I find out if my address is in a school's catchment area in Kendal?

To check whether your address falls within a school's catchment area in Kendal, use the postcode search tool at catchment.school. Catchment area boundaries for Kendal schools are set by Westmorland and Furness and reviewed each year. You can also consult the school's admissions policy or contact the Westmorland and Furness admissions team directly for the most up-to-date boundary maps.

Who sets catchment area boundaries for schools in Kendal?

Catchment area boundaries for schools in Kendal are set by Westmorland and Furness as the admissions authority. Community and voluntary-controlled schools follow the council's published admissions policy, while academies and voluntary-aided schools may set their own. Boundaries are reviewed annually and published each September for the following academic year.

Schools in Kendal

Reviewed by the catchment.school editorial team · Last updated 15 March 2026

Kendal, the main market town of Westmorland and Furness, has 24 schools including 16 primaries spread across the town and rural villages, plus 2 secondaries - The Queen Katherine School and Kirkbie Kendal School. Westmorland and Furness Council took over school admissions from the former Cumbria County Council in April 2023; most community primaries continue to use sibling priority, then children of staff, then nearest-school distance.

The Queen Katherine School is a large comprehensive serving the southern half of Kendal and surrounding villages, while Kirkbie Kendal School draws from the northern residential areas. Both are converter academies with their own admissions policies, though oversubscription criteria broadly follow the LA model. Rural village primaries in the Kendal area sometimes have spare capacity year-on-year, making them a practical alternative to oversubscribed town-centre schools.

School demand in Kendal

Across the 22 schools in Kendal with published capacity data, the average fill rate is 83%. 6 of them are currently at or above their published admission number, and at those schools catchment distance is likely to decide places at the next intake.

12 schools in Kendal have a religious character, so faith criteria sit alongside catchment distance in their admissions policies.

6 of the schools in Kendal are academies that set their own admissions criteria independently of Westmorland and Furness, so check each school's policy directly rather than assuming the council default applies.

3 of the schools in Kendal have a current Ofsted rating, of which 3 are rated Good or Outstanding. Demand and catchment distance tend to be tightest at the highest-rated schools.

Primary schools in Kendal: 6 oversubscribed (16)

Heron Hill Primary School

Primary · Community school

Kendal · LA9 7JH

Ages 3-11 424 pupils Capacity 420

Levens CofE School

Primary · Voluntary controlled school

Kendal · LA8 8PU

Ages 3-11 102 pupils Capacity 105

Old Hutton CofE School

Primary · Voluntary controlled school

Kendal · LA8 0NQ

Ages 3-11 89 pupils Capacity 120

Staveley CofE School

Primary · Voluntary controlled school

Kendal · LA8 9PH

Ages 4-11 86 pupils Capacity 160

Vicarage Park CofE Primary School

Primary · Voluntary controlled school

Kendal · LA9 5BP

Ages 4-11 91 pupils Capacity 210