St Mary's Catholic School

St Mary's Catholic School is performing exceptionally well, achieving an overall effectiveness rating of outstanding in all domains. The school offers a nurturing environment where students excel academically and develop strong personal values, aligning with its Christian ethos. A high-quality, well-structured curriculum empowers pupils to reach ambitious goals, and the school's commitment to high standards yields remarkable behavioural outcomes with minimal disruption. Remarkably, this is the school's first inspection under formal regulations, following an impressive legacy when it operated as a comprehensive school before converting to an academy in 2013.

Strengths

• Outstanding quality of education across all domains.
• Ambitious and nurturing school environment.
• Exceptional curriculum planning with clear end points.
• High expectations for pupil conduct and achievement.
• Staff effectively support students with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Strong focus on personal development and careers education.
• Pupils engage positively in a wide range of extracurricular activities.
• Leadership prioritizes staff well-being and professional development.

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 Mary's Catholic School attended 93.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 17.7% 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, 3.3% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Mary's Catholic School had 16.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 3.6% 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, 12.8% of pupils at St Mary's Catholic School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.0% 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 Mary's Catholic School received £7,896 and spent £7,818 for each of its 1,459 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,394,000 (£1,641 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 Mary's Catholic School is part of Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, which runs 39 schools. The nearest others:

• St Stephen's Catholic Primary School, Newcastle Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Oswald's Catholic Primary School, Gosforth Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Charles' Catholic Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Catherine's Catholic Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Heaton Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Marys Catholic Primary School, Forest Hall Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Columba's Catholic Primary School, Wallsend Wallsend
• St Bernadette's Catholic Primary, Wallsend Wallsend
• St Lawrence's Catholic Primary School Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
• St Alban's Catholic Primary School, Walker Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

What is St Mary's Catholic School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Catholic School is Outstanding, from an inspection in October 2023.

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

St Mary's Catholic School was last inspected in October 2023.

How many pupils does St Mary's Catholic School have?

St Mary's Catholic School has 1,462 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Catholic School cover?

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

What are St Mary's Catholic School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 54.1, and 60% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Mary's Catholic School?

St Mary's Catholic School is at Benton Park Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE7 7PE.