St Gregory's Catholic School

St Gregory's Catholic School is a warm and inclusive secondary school with a sixth form, part of the Kent Catholic Schools' Partnership. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was previously judged outstanding. Inspectors found the school good in each inspected area, with effective safeguarding. The trust has brought stability and raised expectations for behaviour and attendance, which has had a transformational impact: pupils are happy, behave respectfully, feel safe and achieve well. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, support for pupils with SEND and the St Francis de Sales Centre for the Deaf is strong, personal development is rich, and staff morale is high. There are still areas to improve. Curriculum implementation is inconsistent in a small number of subjects, assessment practice varies, and some disadvantaged pupils and sixth-form students on vocational courses are not supported to achieve as well as their peers. The school's wider reading approach is still developing, too many disadvantaged pupils do not attend regularly enough, and sixth-form attendance is too low. Leaders also do not always have clarity about the impact of their actions, which limits how sharply they can identify strengths and areas needing further work.

Strengths

• Warm, welcoming and inclusive culture where pupils are known and well supported
• High ambitions for pupils and strong support for those with SEND
• Impressive specialist provision at the St Francis de Sales Centre for the Deaf
• Positive behaviour and respectful relationships, with pupils feeling safe
• Broad, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum that prepares pupils for next steps
• Strong subject knowledge and effective revisiting of prior knowledge in lessons
• Strong personal development, including PSHE, online safety and impartial careers guidance
• Effective trust and local governance support, with high staff morale
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent in a small number of subjects
• Assessment use varies, and some pupils are unsure how to act on feedback
• Some disadvantaged pupils and sixth-form vocational students are not supported to achieve as well as peers
• The wider reading approach is still developing and does not yet ensure all pupils become confident, fluent readers
• Too many disadvantaged pupils do not attend regularly enough
• Sixth-form student attendance is too low
• The school does not always have clarity about the impact of its work
• Some learning activities in a small number of subjects do not enable pupils to grasp subject content securely

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 Gregory's Catholic School attended 91.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 25.2% 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, 10.6% of pupils at St Gregory's Catholic 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 Gregory's Catholic School had 20.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.0% 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, 5.0% of pupils at St Gregory's Catholic School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 1 pupil.

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 Gregory's Catholic School received £8,411 and spent £8,121 for each of its 1,179 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,072,000 (£910 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 Tunbridge Wells · Kent local authority: places and applications

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

• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School Tunbridge Wells
• St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School Tonbridge
• St Thomas' Catholic Primary School, Sevenoaks Sevenoaks
• More Park Catholic Primary School West Malling
• St Francis' Catholic Primary School, Maidstone Maidstone
• St Simon Stock Catholic School Maidstone
• The Holy Family Catholic Primary School Maidstone
• Our Lady of Hartley Catholic Primary School, Hartley, Longfield Longfield
• St Bartholomew's Catholic Primary School, Swanley Swanley
• St Benedict's Catholic Primary School Chatham

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

The latest Ofsted rating for St Gregory's Catholic School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

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

St Gregory's Catholic School was last inspected in November 2024.

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

St Gregory's Catholic School has 1,093 pupils on roll.

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

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

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

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.8, and 47% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Gregory's Catholic School?

St Gregory's Catholic School is at Reynolds Lane, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 9XL.