Ullswater Community College (UCC) is a large mixed

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

Penrith, Cumbria Penrith (, , ) is a market town and civil parish in the county of Cumbria, England, about south of Carlisle. It is less than outside the Lake District, Lake District National Park, in between the Rivers River Petteril, Petteril and River Ea ...

. It currently has around 1450 students, including about 200 in the sixth form. The School was formed under the name of Ullswater High School in 1980, when Tynefield (girls) and Ullswater (boys)

secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...

s merged. The school still has two sets of all facilities (two halls, two gyms, two kitchens) and there is still the 'mixed yard' in the middle of the school. This was a playground where boys and girls were allowed to 'mix' at breaks. The two main blocks of the school consist of the former schools, now renamed Cumberland block and Westmorland block, named after the historic counties

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

and

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

that became Cumbria in 1974. Along with Eamont Block for students with learning disabilities, Eden Block, Resources and Rural Science blocks The character of the school comes from two main factors. The first is its enormous catchment area, one of the largest in England at around 600 square miles. The second is the existence of its neighbour and great rival, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School ('QEGS'). QEGS is a selective school. Mr David Robinson served as headmaster until April 2004, then the school was led by Mr Stewart Gimber as the head teacher. Ullswater had a ‘good’ inspection in 2006, but in 2009, it was given a ‘notice to improve’ by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

. In September 2009, Mr Nigel Pattinson took over the role as head teacher. Ullswater is a

Business and Enterprise College Business and Enterprise Colleges (BECs) were introduced in 2002 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in England. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields. Schools that successfully applied to the Specialist Schoo ...

, and has many links with the local community through enterprise projects. The school also had a large adult or further education centre. In January 2011, construction of a new training centre began, and was completed in September 2011. The new "Applied Learning Centre" was opened on 29 November 2011, by

The Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

. In May 2012, controversy arose as Nigel Pattinson, the headmaster, was given a pay rise at a time when the school was making staff redundant, and was short of money. The governors defended their actions saying that the rise was due to the school meeting the targets that they had set for Mr Pattinson. However, in the ''

Cumberland & Westmorland Herald The ''Cumberland & Westmorland Herald'' (formerly known as ''The Penrith Herald'', ''The Appleby and Kirkby Stephen Herald'', and ''The Mid Cumberland and North Westmorland Herald'' over the years) is a local newspaper in Cumbria, England. Est ...

'', one reader pointed out that if Mr Pattinson had met the targets then he had obviously done so with the assistance of other staff. In March 2016,

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

visited the college to look at the work done in applied subjects, such as Construction, Motor Vehicle and Hair and Beauty. GCSE Results 2012 – Overall, 95.5% of students at the College – which was rated by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) as ‘most improved secondary school in the North West’ in 2010 – gained five or more A*–C grades, compared with last year’s 92%. Over the last 3 years, the College has improved its results from 54% in 2009 to the current figure of 95.5%.

References

{{authority control Secondary schools in Cumbria Foundation schools in Cumbria Penrith, Cumbria Educational institutions established in 1980 1980 establishments in England