St Bede's Catholic College

St Bede's Catholic College is a larger-than-average Catholic secondary school within a single academy trust. In its January 2026 full inspection, safeguarding standards were met. Inspectors found attendance and behaviour, and personal development and wellbeing, to be strong standard. Pupils are happy, attend regularly and behave respectfully, with above-national attendance and significantly reduced persistent absence. The school is described as an inclusive, tolerant and welcoming community where pupils feel safe and bullying is not tolerated. Achievement, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, leadership and governance, and post-16 provision were all judged to be expected standard. Pupils achieve consistently well at key stage 4, including pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, and benefit from a broad, ambitious curriculum, strong enrichment and an effective careers programme. The sixth form has grown significantly and improved, with recent published outcomes close to the national average. Leaders have responded quickly to a significant increase in SEND and provide effective pastoral and academic support. There are still areas to improve. The quality of teaching varies, particularly in checking pupils' understanding, and some pupils' work does not consistently meet the high standards leaders expect; gaps in learning are not always addressed. Post-16 improvements need to become embedded, leaders should review the impact of professional development more closely, and staff need further guidance on supporting disadvantaged pupils in the classroom. Overall, this is a strong and caring school with solid provision that is not yet consistently highly effective in every classroom.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, attend regularly and behave respectfully, creating disruption-free learning and a positive school culture.
• Attendance, including for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, is above national averages and persistent absence has significantly reduced.
• Bullying is not tolerated, and pupils are confident to report concerns to staff.
• Personal development is strong: pupils are resilient, independent and well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• The school is an inclusive, diverse and welcoming community that promotes respect and British values.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, logically sequenced, and key stage 3 mathematics has been strengthened.
• Pupils, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, achieve consistently well at key stage 4, with above-average outcomes.
• Leaders respond quickly to increasing SEND needs and provide effective support and training for staff.
• A comprehensive enrichment and careers programme, including work experience and mock interviews, supports strong destinations.
• Sixth form provision is improving, with more teaching time and tutor tracking leading to outcomes close to the national average.
• Staff feel valued and supported, with positive action to reduce workload and strong support for early career teachers.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture and pupils who feel safe.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of teaching varies across the curriculum, and some staff do not consistently check pupils' understanding well.
• Some pupils have gaps in learning that are not always addressed, so they do not achieve as highly as they could.
• Expectations for presentation and content of work are not consistently high, meaning some pupils do not produce their best work.
• Students' key stage 5 outcomes have been less strong than at key stage 4 and need to become embedded over time.
• Leaders do not review the impact of the professional development programme closely enough to ensure highly effective teaching is sustained across all areas.
• Staff need further guidance on supporting disadvantaged pupils effectively in the classroom, and this work is in its earlier stages.
• Disadvantaged pupils' progress and attainment gaps remain, despite above-average outcomes compared with disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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 College attended 93.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 16.7% 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, 2.2% of pupils at St Bede's Catholic College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were 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 College had 17.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 7.8% 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, 22.9% of pupils at St Bede's Catholic College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.5% 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 Bede's Catholic College received £8,199 and spent £7,664 for each of its 1,315 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,427,000 (£1,085 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.

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What is St Bede's Catholic College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Bede's Catholic College is Expected standard, from an inspection in February 2026.

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

St Bede's Catholic College was last inspected in February 2026.

How many pupils does St Bede's Catholic College have?

St Bede's Catholic College has 1,324 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Bede's Catholic College cover?

St Bede's Catholic College for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are St Bede's Catholic College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 51.8, and 52% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Bede's Catholic College?

St Bede's Catholic College is at Long Cross, Lawrence Weston, Bristol, BS11 0SU.