St Alban's Catholic High School

St Alban’s Catholic High School has made significant improvements since its last inspection, raising its overall effectiveness to a good standard. The school fosters a positive atmosphere rooted in Christian values, encouraging respect, caring, and learning among its pupils. Students feel safe, supported, and are motivated to succeed, with strong attendance and good behavior observed throughout. The leadership is committed to continuous improvement, and there are effective measures in place to support pupils with special educational needs and disadvantages.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate strong attitudes towards learning and respect for others.
• The school has a well-structured curriculum in most subjects.
• Teachers possess strong subject knowledge and consistently high expectations.
• The special educational needs team is highly effective.
• A comprehensive personal development program is in place for pupils.
• Pupils are actively engaged in extracurricular activities and charitable initiatives.
• Sixth-form leadership has improved, leading to more students achieving places at high-ranking universities.

Areas for Improvement

• Not all key stage 3 subject plans are clear, particularly in history.
• Some sixth-form students struggle with punctuality to lessons.
• Communication from leaders about school improvement could be clearer.

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 Alban's Catholic High School attended 91.9% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.6% 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, 7.1% of pupils at St Alban's Catholic High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 5 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 Alban's Catholic High School had 15.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.3% 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, 10.0% of pupils at St Alban's Catholic High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.0% 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 Alban's Catholic High School received £7,646 and spent £7,650 for each of its 996 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £813,000 (£816 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,225 and spending £7,189 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 Ipswich · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

St Alban's Catholic High School is part of Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Ipswich Ipswich
• St Mark's Catholic Primary School Ipswich
• St Pancras Catholic Primary School Ipswich
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Sudbury
• St Edmund's Catholic Primary School Bury St Edmunds
• St Benedict's Catholic School Bury St Edmunds
• St Felix Roman Catholic Primary School, Haverhill Haverhill
• St Louis Catholic Academy Newmarket
• St Alban's Catholic Primary School Cambridge
• St Laurence Catholic Primary School Cambridge

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

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

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

St Alban's Catholic High School was last inspected in May 2025.

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

St Alban's Catholic High School has 967 pupils on roll.

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

St Alban's Catholic High School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

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

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.3, and 38% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Alban's Catholic High School?

St Alban's Catholic High School is at Digby Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4 3NJ.