St Bede's Catholic High School

St Bede’s Catholic High School is a Catholic comprehensive where pupils are proud to attend, feel safe and are well supported pastorally. Behaviour is extremely strong: pupils are courteous, polite and engaged, and low-level disruption is rare. The school has high academic expectations, and most pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well across a broad and well-organised curriculum. Almost all pupils move into sustained education, employment or training when they leave. The school has improved since its previous inspection, when it was judged to require improvement, and inspectors found good provision across the key judgements. There has been significant leadership and governance change since the previous inspection, including a new headteacher, deputy headteacher, senior assistant headteacher and new chair and vice-chair of governors. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and pupils’ wider development is well considered through an ambitious personal development programme and careers guidance. There are still areas to improve. In a small number of subjects, some teachers do not choose the most effective strategies, so pupils do not always get enough time to practise and apply new knowledge. Support for some struggling readers is not helping them catch up quickly enough. In addition, the school’s quality assurance does not always precisely evaluate impact, and some leaders lack the expertise to evaluate their areas accurately, which slows improvement in some areas.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud of their school, feel safe and value each other’s uniqueness.
• High-quality, personalised pastoral support nurtures pupils’ well-being.
• Pupils behave extremely well, are courteous and polite, and low-level disruption is rare.
• The curriculum is broad and well organised.
• Most pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well across the curriculum.
• Almost all pupils move into sustained education, employment or training.
• The school has strong processes to identify additional needs and supports pupils with SEND well.
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and use assessment effectively to address misconceptions.
• Reading is prioritised, with support in place for struggling readers.
• The personal development programme is ambitious and prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• Careers guidance helps pupils make appropriate choices about their next steps.
• Governors know the school well, fulfil statutory duties and challenge leaders effectively.
• The school listens to staff and has made workload-sensitive changes in response to feedback.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• A small number of teachers do not choose the most effective teaching strategies, so some pupils do not get enough time to practise and apply new knowledge.
• Additional reading support is not helping some pupils catch up with their peers quickly enough.
• The school’s quality assurance processes do not always precisely evaluate impact, which hampers improvement in some areas.
• Some leaders lack the expertise to evaluate their areas accurately and identify the most effective improvement strategies.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at St Bede's Catholic High School attended 93.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 14.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 4.2% of pupils at St Bede's Catholic High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 St Bede's Catholic High School had 17.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.9% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 10.6% of pupils at St Bede's Catholic High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 St Bede's Catholic High School received £7,601 and spent £7,585 for each of its 710 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £210,000 (£296 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Ormskirk · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is St Bede's Catholic High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Bede's Catholic High School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was St Bede's Catholic High School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Bede's Catholic High School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does St Bede's Catholic High School have?

St Bede's Catholic High School has 709 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Bede's Catholic High School cover?

St Bede's Catholic High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St Bede's Catholic High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 54.0, and 59% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Bede's Catholic High School?

St Bede's Catholic High School is at St Anne's Road, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 4TA.