St Thomas More High School

St Thomas More High School continues to demonstrate good performance across various domains, providing strong academic and personal support to its pupils. The school has fostered a nurturing environment where students feel valued and encouraged to thrive both in their studies and personal development. With a commitment to building a caring community, the relationships among pupils, staff, and families are notably strong. Additionally, the school has successfully implemented an ambitious curriculum that is raising aspirations, particularly in the uptake of the English Baccalaureate and leadership opportunities for students.

Strengths

• Strong relationships between pupils, staff, and parents
• Extensive range of extra-curricular opportunities
• Ambitious curriculum that enables pupils to achieve well
• High expectations set by teachers for sixth form students
• Effective support for pupils with SEND
• High attendance rates and low disruption in learning
• Inclusive culture with strong support for new students
• High-quality personal development program
• Effective careers education and guidance

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent support for developing pupils' writing skills across the curriculum

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 Thomas More High School attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 9.3% 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, 2.4% of pupils at St Thomas More 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 Thomas More High School had 18.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.2% 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, 8.4% of pupils at St Thomas More High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.4% 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 2024–25 St Thomas More High School received £8,086 and spent £8,360 for each of its 1,209 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £860,000 (£712 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Assisi Catholic Trust, income was £7,052 and spending £7,168 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Westcliff-On-Sea · Southend-on-Sea local authority: places and applications

St Thomas More High School is part of Assisi Catholic Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School Leigh-On-Sea
• St Helen's Catholic Primary School Westcliff-On-Sea
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Southend-On-Sea
• St Teresa's Catholic Primary School Rochford
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and Nursery Canvey Island
• Our Lady of Ransom Catholic Primary School Rayleigh
• Holy Family Catholic Primary School Benfleet
• St George's Catholic Primary School Southend-On-Sea

What is St Thomas More High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Thomas More High School is Good, from an inspection in May 2024.

When was St Thomas More High School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Thomas More High School was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does St Thomas More High School have?

St Thomas More High School has 1,243 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Thomas More High School cover?

St Thomas More High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are St Thomas More High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 52.9, and 57% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Thomas More High School?

St Thomas More High School is at Kenilworth Gardens, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 0BW.