St Bede's Catholic Academy

St Bede's Catholic Academy is a warm, inclusive and aspirational school serving a high-deprivation community, where over 90% of pupils have at least one vulnerability and 59.5% are eligible for free school meals. Attendance and behaviour are exceptional: pupils attend regularly, arrive ready to learn and behave with calmness and respect, and leaders support other schools locally and nationally with attendance. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils say they feel safe. The school is part of the Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust and has a Catholic character. Pupils achieve highly. Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is above national averages and has risen over time, and disadvantaged pupils consistently outperform national averages for disadvantaged pupils. The curriculum is high-quality and well adapted, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and teachers check understanding and close gaps quickly. Inclusion is a significant strength, with strong relationships with families and carefully targeted support. Leadership and governance are strong, and personal development is rich, including trips, sport, music and university partnerships. The main area for improvement is the early years, which is judged at the expected standard rather than the stronger standards seen elsewhere. Children benefit from a nurturing environment and well-structured phonics, but some staff interactions do not consistently extend children’s learning. Leaders should ensure early years staff maximise high-quality interactions so that children develop secure communication and language skills.

Strengths

• Attendance is exceptionally high despite significant deprivation and high levels of pupil vulnerability.
• Pupils behave exceptionally well; classrooms are calm, orderly and respectful, and bullying is rare and dealt with swiftly.
• Pupils achieve highly, with attainment in reading, writing and mathematics above national averages and a sustained upward trend.
• Disadvantaged pupils perform consistently above national averages, showing strong equity of opportunity.
• The curriculum is high-quality, regularly refined and adapted well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Teachers check understanding promptly and provide tailored support so gaps are closed quickly.
• Inclusion is a significant strength, with positive family relationships and carefully targeted provision.
• Leadership and governance are strong, with a precise understanding of the school and effective support and challenge.
• Personal development is rich, including online safety, relationships and health education, trips, sport, music and university partnerships.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture in which concerns are actively identified and managed.
• Early years provides a nurturing environment with positive routines and well-structured phonics teaching.

Areas for Improvement

• In the early years, staff interactions sometimes do not help children practise and extend their learning as well as they could.
• Leaders should ensure early years staff maximise opportunities for high-quality interactions so children develop secure communication and language skills.

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 Bede's Catholic Academy attended 96.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

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, 1.8% of pupils at St Bede's Catholic Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No 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 Bede's Catholic Academy had 23.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 27.1% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

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, 8.2% of pupils at St Bede's Catholic Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

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 primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 St Bede's Catholic Academy received £7,609 and spent £7,344 for each of its 212 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £150,000 (£709 per pupil).

Across all 35 schools of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, income was £7,699 and spending £7,759 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 Stockton-On-Tees · Stockton-on-Tees local authority: places and applications

St Bede's Catholic Academy is part of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, which runs 35 schools. The nearest others:

• Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• St Gregory's Catholic Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Stockton Stockton-On-Tees
• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Stockton Stockton-On-Tees
• St Joseph's Catholic Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• St John the Evangelist Catholic Primary School Billingham
• Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Academy Billingham
• St Paul's Catholic Primary School Billingham
• St Michael's Catholic Academy Billingham
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Billingham

What is St Bede's Catholic Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Bede's Catholic Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was St Bede's Catholic Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Bede's Catholic Academy was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does St Bede's Catholic Academy have?

St Bede's Catholic Academy has 231 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Bede's Catholic Academy cover?

St Bede's Catholic Academy for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are St Bede's Catholic Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Bede's Catholic Academy?

St Bede's Catholic Academy is at Green Lane, Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside, TS19 0DW.