St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy

St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School is performing well overall, achieving a good rating across all areas inspected. Leaders display a strong commitment to improving the educational experience for all pupils, actively addressing potential barriers to learning. Notably, the school has developed a coherent curriculum and strong support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Pupils report feeling nurtured and valued within a positive and caring school environment, which is evident in their polite behavior and pride in the school community. There is a strong emphasis on safeguarding and a wide array of extracurricular opportunities for students.

Strengths

• Leaders are ambitious and care for pupils.
• Curriculum is coherent and well considered.
• Strong support for pupils with SEND.
• Pupils behave well and are polite.
• Effective arrangements for safeguarding.
• Active student leadership group involved in school matters.
• Robust pastoral support for pupils.
• Wide range of extracurricular activities offered.

Areas for Improvement

• Some teaching activities do not effectively support learning objectives.
• Insufficient time for pupils to practice new skills.
• Inconsistent communication of behavior expectations in certain areas.

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 Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy attended 91.5% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 22.4% 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, 8.9% of pupils at St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy had 19.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.4% 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, 5.6% of pupils at St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 9.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 19 pupils.

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 Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy received £8,122 and spent £8,190 for each of its 763 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £382,000 (£501 per pupil).

Across all 15 schools of The Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy Trust, income was £6,890 and spending £7,055 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 Wakefield · Wakefield local authority: places and applications

St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy is part of The Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 15 schools. The nearest others:

• St Austin's Catholic Primary School Wakefield
• English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Wakefield
• St Ignatius Catholic Primary School Wakefield
• St. John the Baptist Catholic Primary School Normanton
• St Wilfrid's Catholic High School & Sixth Form College: A Voluntary Academy Pontefract
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Pontefract
• St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy Dewsbury
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pontefract Pontefract
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Castleford Castleford
• Holy Family and St Michael's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy Pontefract

What is St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy is Good, from an inspection in May 2023.

When was St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy was last inspected in May 2023.

How many pupils does St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy have?

St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy has 762 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy cover?

St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 49.1, and 51% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy?

St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, A Voluntary Academy is at Barnsley Road, Wakefield, WF2 6EQ.