English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College

English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College is a large secondary comprehensive and sixth form in Hartlepool, part of the Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust. Inspectors found a calm and orderly school where most pupils are safe, respectful and benefit from a broad, ambitious curriculum, strong reading support, good personal development and effective careers education. The sixth form is a notable strength, with subject-specialist teaching and strong achievement in vocational courses. Safeguarding is effective, and the trust is providing substantial additional leadership capacity. However, the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management require improvement. The curriculum is not yet fully embedded, and some pupils in Years 10 and 11 have gaps in knowledge. Teaching is not consistently checking understanding or using questioning well enough to deepen learning. A significant minority of pupils are persistently disruptive outside lessons, and high absence—especially among disadvantaged pupils—means too many pupils miss too much education and do not achieve well. The school is taking action on attendance and behaviour, with an enlarged pastoral team and a rigorous approach, but impact is only beginning. Trust support and staff culture are positive, but leaders need to secure consistent teaching quality and improve attendance and behaviour so that all pupils can benefit fully from the school’s strengths.

Strengths

• Calm and orderly environment where most pupils are respectful and safe
• Staff build positive relationships with pupils and families
• Broad, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum
• Recent key stage 3 changes provide a strong foundation for key stage 4
• Vocational courses meet pupils’ needs and support progression
• Pupils with SEND are well identified and supported to access the same curriculum
• Strong focus on reading, including phonics and reading comprehension support
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and give helpful feedback
• Sixth form provides subject-specialist teaching, discussion and individual support
• Students on vocational courses in the sixth form achieve highly
• Comprehensive personal development programme, including safety and British values
• High-quality careers education and guidance
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Trust provides substantial additional leadership capacity and trustees hold leaders to account
• Positive staff culture with attention to workload and well-being

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum is not yet embedded, leaving gaps in some Years 10 and 11 pupils’ knowledge
• Teachers sometimes do not check pupils’ understanding systematically enough
• Questioning is sometimes not used well enough to deepen and extend pupils’ knowledge
• High levels of absence and persistent absence, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, mean pupils miss too much education
• Persistent disruptive behaviour by a significant minority outside lessons affects learning and leads to suspensions or removals
• Teachers need more professional development in pedagogy and subject-specific teaching knowledge
• Leadership and management require improvement, with trust support still beginning to have impact

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 English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College attended 89.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.4% 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, 13.7% of pupils at English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 19 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 English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College had 14.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.7% 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, 13.8% of pupils at English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 2.0% 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 English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College received £7,945 and spent £8,192 for each of its 1,472 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,123,000 (£763 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 Hartlepool · Hartlepool local authority: places and applications

English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College is part of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, which runs 35 schools. The nearest others:

• St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool Hartlepool
• Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool Hartlepool
• St Teresa's Catholic Primary School Hartlepool
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool Hartlepool
• St John Vianney Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool Hartlepool
• St Bega's Catholic Primary School, Hartlepool Hartlepool
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Billingham
• St Michael's Catholic Academy Billingham
• Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Academy Billingham
• St Paul's Catholic Primary School Billingham

What is English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College last inspected by Ofsted?

English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College have?

English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College has 1,420 pupils on roll.

What age range does English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College cover?

English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 44.2, and 44% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College?

English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College is at Catcote Road, Hartlepool, TS25 4HA.