Sacred Heart Catholic High School

Sacred Heart Catholic High School is a girls' comprehensive academy converter in Newcastle upon Tyne and part of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust. This was its first routine inspection since before the pandemic, and its first section 5 inspection since 2013, when it was previously judged outstanding. Under the current inspection framework the school was judged outstanding in quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision, with safeguarding arrangements found to be effective.

Strengths

• Broad, ambitious and thoughtfully sequenced curriculum across key stages and sixth form
• High aspirations for pupils, leading to considerable examination success and strong progression
• Excellent teaching underpinned by expert subject knowledge and effective revisiting of prior learning
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported precisely, achieving exceptionally well
• Strong reading culture with targeted support and reading events that build confident, fluent readers
• Pupils behave in an exemplary manner and show respect, kindness and responsibility
• Exceptional personal development provision, including resilience, relationships and careers education
• Diverse extra-curricular opportunities and educational visits that enrich pupils' learning
• Sixth-form students play a central role in school life and act as positive role models
• Trustees and local governors provide rigorous strategic oversight and hold leaders to account
• Staff benefit from excellent professional development and manageable workload
• Effective safeguarding arrangements and an open culture that puts pupils' interests first

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 Sacred Heart Catholic High School attended 90.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.4% 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, 5.4% of pupils at Sacred Heart Catholic High School 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 Sacred Heart Catholic High School had 15.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.8% 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, 14.8% of pupils at Sacred Heart Catholic High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.2% 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 Sacred Heart Catholic High School received £8,345 and spent £8,500 for each of its 1,392 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £571,000 (£410 per pupil).

Across all 39 schools of Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, income was £7,320 and spending £7,580 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 Newcastle-Upon-Tyne · Newcastle upon Tyne local authority: places and applications

Sacred Heart Catholic High School is part of Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, which runs 39 schools. The nearest others:

• Sacred Heart Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• English Martyrs' Catholic Primary School, Fenham Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Cuthbert's High School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Benwell Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Newcastle Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Michael's Catholic Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Our Lady and St Anne's Catholic Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Kenton Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Mark's Catholic Primary School, Westerhope Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St George's Catholic Primary School, Bells Close Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

What is Sacred Heart Catholic High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sacred Heart Catholic High School is Outstanding, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Sacred Heart Catholic High School last inspected by Ofsted?

Sacred Heart Catholic High School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Sacred Heart Catholic High School have?

Sacred Heart Catholic High School has 1,424 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sacred Heart Catholic High School cover?

Sacred Heart Catholic High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Sacred Heart Catholic High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 51.8, and 55% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Sacred Heart Catholic High School?

Sacred Heart Catholic High School is at Fenham Hall Drive, Fenham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE4 9YH.