Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy

Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy is a welcoming secondary school where pupils feel happy and safe and relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Behaviour has improved over time, pupils are respectful and bullying is rare, and classrooms are calm and purposeful. The school is part of the Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust and has an enhanced mainstream provision for pupils with autism; it also uses alternative provisions. It had been exempt from routine inspection and was last inspected under section 5 in January 2018, with an ungraded section 8 inspection in December 2023. Under current arrangements, no overall effectiveness grade was awarded, but the school was judged good across the key judgements. Leaders have strengthened leadership and revised the curriculum ambitiously and effectively, and pupils now know and remember more of what they are taught. Teachers have strong subject knowledge, pupils with SEND are identified accurately and supported well, reading is prioritised, and personal development and careers provision are strong. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. However, in the recent past pupils did not achieve as well as they might in external tests and assessments. The main areas for improvement are that lesson activities are not consistently matched to the intended curriculum or adapted to individual pupils’ needs, so pupils do not always develop a deep, secure knowledge. In addition, some disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are persistently absent too often, and while strategies have been prioritised it is too early to see their full impact. Some parents also feel that issues they raise could be addressed more quickly.

Strengths

• Welcoming school with strong and positive staff-pupil relationships.
• Pupils feel happy and safe, and bullying is rare.
• Pupils’ conduct is respectful and friendly, and behaviour has improved over time.
• Classrooms are calm and purposeful, with high expectations of pupils.
• The curriculum has been revised and is well sequenced and organised.
• Pupils now know and remember more of what they have been taught.
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and use probing questions to check understanding.
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and supported effectively, including in the resourced provision.
• Reading is prioritised, with daily reading time and a vibrant library.
• Personal development is well supported through holistic development lessons, clubs and volunteering.
• Pupils understand British values, equality and diversity.
• The careers programme is well structured and prepares pupils for a wide range of destinations.
• Leadership has been strengthened and staff are proud to work at the school.
• Trustees and governors have an accurate understanding of the school.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Activities in lessons are not consistently well matched to the intended learning in the curriculum.
• Learning is not consistently adapted to individual pupils’ needs, limiting how deeply and broadly pupils develop knowledge.
• Some disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are persistently absent from school too often.
• Attendance strategies are in place but it is too early to see their full impact.
• Some parents feel that issues they raise could be addressed more quickly.
• In the recent past, pupils did not achieve as well as they might in external tests and assessments.

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 Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy attended 90.6% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.9% 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, 11.4% of pupils at Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 6 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 Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy had 17.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.4% 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, 12.0% of pupils at Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

The school has resourced provision with 4 pupils.

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 Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy received £8,041 and spent £7,997 for each of its 1,030 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £1,451,000 (£1,408 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

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

• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Stockton Stockton-On-Tees
• St Bede's Catholic Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• St Gregory's Catholic Academy Stockton-On-Tees
• St Cuthbert'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 Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy have?

Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy has 1,005 pupils on roll.

What age range does Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy cover?

Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 47.0, and 51% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy?

Our Lady & St. Bede Catholic Academy is at Bishopton Road West, Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, TS19 0QH.