St Cuthbert's High School

St Cuthbert’s High School has demonstrated considerable improvement since its last inspection, moving from a rating of Requires Improvement to Good. The school places a strong emphasis on providing a quality education and maintaining high expectations for pupil achievement. Students report feeling happy and safe, with strong pastoral support and a positive school culture promoting respect and good behavior. The curriculum is well-structured and includes valuable enrichment opportunities, though there are still areas requiring progress, particularly in fully embedding curriculum changes across all key stages and improving assessment consistency. There is notable strength in the school's commitment to personal development, enabling pupils to grow not only academically but also as individuals. The leadership team, along with support from the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, has fostered a collaborative environment where both staff and parents feel engaged and informed about the school’s journey towards improved performance. However, some underlying concerns persist, particularly regarding the outcomes for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in public examinations, indicating that further work is needed to optimize their achievements.

Strengths

• High expectations for pupil achievement and behavior
• Strong support for personal development and character formation
• Well-structured and sequenced curriculum in key stage 3
• Effective support for struggling readers
• Diverse extracurricular activities and clubs available for students
• Strong subject knowledge among teachers facilitated by professional development

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum changes not fully embedded across all key stages
• Pupils with SEND do not achieve the best possible outcomes in exams
• Inconsistent assessment practices limiting understanding of pupil progress

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 Cuthbert's High School attended 91.9% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.8% 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, 10.2% of pupils at St Cuthbert's High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 11 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 Cuthbert's High School had 15.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.4% 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, 16.2% of pupils at St Cuthbert's 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 2024–25 St Cuthbert's High School received £6,593 and spent £8,424 for each of its 1,211 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,838,000 (£2,344 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

St Cuthbert's High School is part of Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, which runs 39 schools. The nearest others:

• St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Newcastle Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Sacred Heart Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• English Martyrs' Catholic Primary School, Fenham Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• Sacred Heart Catholic High School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Benwell Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St George's Catholic Primary School, Bells Close Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St John Vianney Catholic Primary School, West Denton Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Michael's Catholic Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Mark's Catholic Primary School, Westerhope Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Cuthberts Catholic Primary School, Kenton Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

What is St Cuthbert's High School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Cuthbert's High School is Good, from an inspection in March 2024.

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

St Cuthbert's High School was last inspected in March 2024.

How many pupils does St Cuthbert's High School have?

St Cuthbert's High School has 1,224 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Cuthbert's High School cover?

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

What are St Cuthbert's High School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 46.9, and 52% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Cuthbert's High School?

St Cuthbert's High School is at Gretna Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE15 7PX.