St Simon Stock Catholic School

St Simon Stock Catholic School is a Catholic secondary school and sixth form within the Kent Catholic Schools Partnership. Inspectors found it to be a strongly inclusive school where pupils feel safe, cared for and proud to belong. Safeguarding standards are met. Pastoral care, behaviour and the values of 'ready, responsible and respectful' create a calm, purposeful environment. Support for pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and those with EAL is a notable strength, and disadvantaged pupils' progress and attainment compare well with national figures; pupils with low prior attainment perform very well. Overall, pupils learn the curriculum well and benefit from a broad, well-planned curriculum with good teaching and strong careers and personal development provision. Leadership and governance are effective, and staff feel well supported. However, pupils with high prior attainment do not achieve as well as they could. In the sixth form, A-level attainment has been below national averages over time, although progress is improving and is now broadly in line with national. Teaching does not always check understanding consistently well, so gaps in knowledge are not always addressed before moving on. Attendance is generally close to national averages, but some disadvantaged pupils still attend less often than they could, and the strategies to improve this are newer than those for pupils with SEND. Leaders know what needs to improve and have appropriate plans in place. The main next steps are to sharpen checks on learning across the curriculum, including post-16, and to embed the attendance strategies focused on disadvantaged pupils.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive school where support for pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with EAL is woven through all aspects of school life.
• Strong pastoral care helps pupils feel safe, supported and proud to belong.
• Pupils with low prior attainment perform very well.
• Disadvantaged pupils' progress and attainment are above national averages for disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils are well prepared for their next steps, including sustained education, and post-16 students progress to appropriate destinations.
• Attendance systems are effective, with improved attendance for pupils with SEND.
• The values of 'ready, responsible and respectful' underpin a calm and purposeful learning environment.
• Pupils behave well, are focused in lessons and interact positively at social times.
• Bullying is rare and leaders track incidents closely to prevent repetition.
• The curriculum is broad and well planned, with thoughtful adaptations for pupils' needs and different pathways at GCSE and post-16.
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and explain new concepts and technical vocabulary clearly.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding well to remove barriers and support disadvantaged pupils to thrive.
• Governance and trustees provide effective support and challenge and hold high expectations for leaders.
• Staff are overwhelmingly positive about leadership, workload and the school's close-knit community.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision, including PSHE, careers advice and culture week, prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• Post-16 students achieve above national outcomes in vocational qualifications and benefit from a wide range of academic and vocational courses.
• Students act as role models for younger pupils and value the strength of the sixth form community.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils with high prior attainment do not achieve as well as they could.
• Sixth form attainment in national examinations has been below national averages over time, although progress is improving.
• Checks on learning are variable, so teachers do not always identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge before moving on.
• Post-16 teachers' strategies to check understanding and embed important knowledge are not used consistently well.
• Attendance strategies for disadvantaged pupils have not been in place long enough to be as successful as those for pupils with SEND.
• Some pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, do not attend as regularly as they could.

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 Simon Stock Catholic School attended 91.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 21.7% 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, 4.7% of pupils at St Simon Stock Catholic School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 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 Simon Stock Catholic School had 18.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.6% 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, 13.3% of pupils at St Simon Stock 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 Simon Stock Catholic School received £7,050 and spent £6,561 for each of its 1,152 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £648,000 (£562 per pupil).

Across all 30 schools of Kent Catholic Schools' Partnership, income was £6,963 and spending £6,776 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 Maidstone · Kent local authority: places and applications

St Simon Stock Catholic School is part of Kent Catholic Schools' Partnership, which runs 33 schools. The nearest others:

• St Francis' Catholic Primary School, Maidstone Maidstone
• The Holy Family Catholic Primary School Maidstone
• More Park Catholic Primary School West Malling
• St Benedict's Catholic Primary School Chatham
• St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School Chatham
• St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School Rochester
• St Michael Catholic Primary and Nursery School Chatham
• St Thomas of Canterbury RC Primary School Gillingham
• English Martyrs' Catholic Primary School Rochester
• St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School Tonbridge

What is St Simon Stock Catholic School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Simon Stock Catholic School is Expected standard, from an inspection in March 2026.

When was St Simon Stock Catholic School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Simon Stock Catholic School was last inspected in March 2026.

How many pupils does St Simon Stock Catholic School have?

St Simon Stock Catholic School has 1,148 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Simon Stock Catholic School cover?

St Simon Stock Catholic School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are St Simon Stock Catholic School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.0, and 31% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Simon Stock Catholic School?

St Simon Stock Catholic School is at Oakwood Park, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 0JP.