Ulverston Victoria High School (UVHS) is a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

located in the town of

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park and j ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England. It is the successor school to Ulverston Grammar School and Victoria Secondary Modern, which were combined in 1967 to form Ulverston Comprehensive School. This school ultimately became UVHS.

Admissions

UVHS is a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 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 restricted on the basis ...

and takes its pupils from the local area as well as from

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park. In the United Kingdom Census 201 ...

and Coniston. The school also has a

Sixth Form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

Sport

The school's most notable sporting achievements include winning the BSOA Large Secondary School

Orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

crown for 19 of the last 21 years. The orienteering team came back from the 2017 World Schools Orienteering Championship with a silver medal for the junior girls team and individual gold and silver medals for Year 9 pupil, Merryn Stangroom.

Music

UVHS Swing Band won the national SSAT competition for function bands in 2013, headlining at the Liverpool Echo Arena. The band has recorded 2 CDs with the Royal Marines and has also appeared live on Blue Peter as well as on Classic FM, Radio 2 and Radio Cumbria. In 2018 they played at Disneyland Paris on Bastille day. The Wind Band consists of between 90 and 100 players aged from 11 to 18. The band regularly tours abroad, including Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Salzburg and the Netherlands. In 2014 they performed a live concert on Dutch TV and have also appeared live on Belgian and Spanish TV in the past as well as Czech and British radio. Richard Butler, head of music, was awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours list 2018.

Notable former pupils

(Includes Ulverston Grammar School and Victoria Secondary Modern) * Sir Wilfred Burns CB CBE, town planner * Richard Parsons, educational study guide author and founder and owner of CGP * William Pearsall, Quain Professor of Botany at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

from 1944 to 1957, President of the

Institute of Biology The Institute of Biology (IoB) was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societie ...

from 1957 to 1958 * Colin Pickthall, Labour MP for

West Lancashire West Lancashire is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Ormskirk, and the largest town is Skelmersdale. The district borders Fylde to the north, over the Ribble Estuary; South Ribbl ...

from 1992 to 2005 * Dame Kathleen Raven, nurse, Chief Nursing Officer in the DHSS from 1958 to 1972 * Rt Rev Martin Wharton, Bishop of Newcastle since 1997 * John Eccleston, puppeteer, writer, presenter and actor * George Elokobi, former professional footballer and current manager of Maidstone United *

Jess Gillam Jess Gillam (born 24 May 1998) is a British saxophonist and BBC radio broadcaster from Ulverston, Cumbria. Gillam hosts ''This Classical Life'' on BBC Radio 3. Education Gillam attended the Junior Royal Northern College of Music while at sec ...

, saxophonist *

Elsie Blundell Elsie-Jane Blundell (née Wraighte; born August 1990) is a British Labour politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Heywood and Middleton North since 2024. Early life and education Blundell is from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, Engl ...

, Labour MP for Heywood and Middleton North from 2024 * Morgan Knowles, current professional rugby league player for St Helens

References

External links