St Bernard's Catholic High School

St Bernard's Catholic High School is performing well, achieving a 'Good' rating overall, while showcasing outstanding performance in behaviour, attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The school has a strong sense of community, and pupils feel safe and nurtured. This inspection marks the first graded assessment since 2011, highlighting an extended gap due to previous exemptions. The leadership has made significant improvements in curriculum delivery, which has seen pupils’ achievements enhance across many subjects over recent years, although some areas still require refinement.

Strengths

• Exceptional sense of community and mutual respect among pupils and staff.
• Outstanding behaviour and attitudes with rare instances of poor behaviour.
• Strong relationships fostered through care and respect from staff.
• High-quality education with significant curriculum development improvements.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
• Strong focus on reading with dedicated programs that engage younger pupils.
• Excellent attendance rates and effective monitoring approaches.
• Wealth of careers advice and opportunities to meet employers.

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistencies in curriculum design and implementation across subjects leading to variation in pupil learning.

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 Bernard's Catholic High School attended 94.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 14.9% 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, 6.6% of pupils at St Bernard's Catholic High School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 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 Bernard's Catholic High School had 16.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.2% 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, 16.1% of pupils at St Bernard's Catholic High School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.6% 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 Bernard's Catholic High School received £7,863 and spent £7,533 for each of its 821 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £201,000 (£245 per pupil).

Across all 14 schools of St Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,455 and spending £7,395 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 Rotherham · Rotherham local authority: places and applications

St Bernard's Catholic High School is part of St Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• St Mary's Catholic Primary School Rotherham
• St Gerard's Catholic Primary School Rotherham
• St Bede's Catholic Primary School Rotherham
• Saint Pius X Catholic High School A Specialist School in Humanities Rotherham
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School (Maltby) Rotherham
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Sheffield
• St Peter's Catholic Primary School Doncaster
• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School Doncaster
• St Joseph's School, a Catholic Voluntary Academy Doncaster
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School Doncaster

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Bernard's Catholic High School is Good, from an inspection in April 2024.

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

St Bernard's Catholic High School was last inspected in April 2024.

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

St Bernard's Catholic High School has 818 pupils on roll.

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

St Bernard's Catholic High School for pupils aged 11 to 16.

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

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 50.3, and 51% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Bernard's Catholic High School?

St Bernard's Catholic High School is at Herringthorpe Valley Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S65 3BE.