St Boniface's RC College

St Boniface's RC College is a smaller boys' secondary school in Plymouth, part of the Plymouth Cast trust, inspected in April 2025 after leadership changes in autumn 2023. Pupils and parents describe a warm, family-like community where pupils feel safe and cared for, relationships are respectful, and behaviour is calm and orderly. Personal development is a notable strength, with pupils benefiting from trips, sports, positions of responsibility, charity work and learning about diversity, and careers education now starts in Year 7. Safeguarding is effective, and leaders are seen as reflective and committed to improvement. The curriculum has become more ambitious and pupils are achieving more highly at the end of key stage 4. Reading is promoted well, with strong support for pupils who have fallen behind, and pupils with SEND are identified accurately, with care described as a strength. However, the quality of education is not yet consistently good. Curriculum delivery varies across the school; some work lacks purpose and ambition, checks on pupils' understanding are inconsistent, misconceptions can persist, and expectations of some pupils' written work are not high enough. The school knows what needs to improve: staff need to use the most effective teaching approaches, check understanding before moving on, and hold consistently high expectations of pupils' work. Overall, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management are strengths, while curriculum delivery remains the main area for further development.

Strengths

• Warm and respectful relationships create a family-like school community.
• Pupils feel safe and cared for, and parents praise staff dedication to well-being.
• Behaviour is calm and orderly, with fewer sanctions and improving attendance.
• The curriculum is more ambitious and pupils are achieving more highly at key stage 4.
• The school promotes a love of reading and supports pupils who have fallen behind.
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately, and the care they receive is a strength.
• Personal development is strong, including trips, sports, responsibility, charity and diversity.
• Careers education has improved and pupils experience the world of work from Year 7.
• Leaders have a deep moral purpose and are reflective and committed to improvement.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum delivery is inconsistent across subjects and areas of the school.
• Some tasks lack purpose and ambition, so pupils do not deepen their knowledge.
• Teachers do not consistently check understanding before introducing new content or independent work.
• Misconceptions can persist and some pupils struggle to complete work independently.
• Expectations of some pupils' work are not consistently high enough.
• Some pupils' written work lacks accuracy and care.
• Pupils do not always make links between current and prior learning.

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 Boniface's RC College attended 90.0% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.3% 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, 6.1% of pupils at St Boniface's RC College 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 Boniface's RC College had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.5% 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, 19.8% of pupils at St Boniface's RC College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 7.5% 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 Boniface's RC College received £9,294 and spent £9,867 for each of its 392 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £678,000 (-£1,731 per pupil).

Across all 34 schools of Plymouth Cast, income was £8,158 and spending £8,000 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 Plymouth · Plymouth local authority: places and applications

St Boniface's RC College is part of Plymouth Cast, which runs 34 schools. The nearest others:

• Notre Dame RC School Plymouth
• St Peter's RC Primary School Plymouth
• Keyham Barton Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• The Cathedral School of St Mary Plymouth
• St Paul's Roman Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• Holy Cross Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Plymouth
• St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Buckfast Buckfastleigh
• St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Primary School, Dartmouth Dartmouth
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Newton Abbot

What is St Boniface's RC College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Boniface's RC College is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was St Boniface's RC College last inspected by Ofsted?

St Boniface's RC College was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does St Boniface's RC College have?

St Boniface's RC College has 389 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Boniface's RC College cover?

St Boniface's RC College for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St Boniface's RC College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 37.8, and 27% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Boniface's RC College?

St Boniface's RC College is at 21 Boniface Lane, Crownhill, Plymouth, Devon, PL5 3AG.