The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School

The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School is an outstanding school where pupils achieve exceptionally well. The quality of education, behaviour, personal development, and leadership are all exceptional. Pupils benefit from a broad and ambitious curriculum, high-quality teaching, and a wide range of enrichment opportunities. Disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND make excellent progress, and attendance is high. The sixth form is strong, with students achieving well and progressing to ambitious destinations. The school is part of the Saint John Southworth Catholic Academy Trust and is led by executive headteacher Aaron Cosgrove. Safeguarding is effective. The inspection was a full section 5 inspection under the renewed framework, with grades of Exceptional for achievement, attendance and behaviour, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing, and Strong standard for curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and post-16 provision. The school meets the provider access legislation requirements. Overall, the school provides an exceptional education. Leaders are highly ambitious and have created a culture where pupils thrive academically and personally. The school's Catholic ethos and motto 'amare et servire' underpin its work, and pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. The few areas for development are minor and relate to ensuring consistent use of information to adapt learning for identified groups and systematic checking for understanding across subjects. These are not significant concerns but areas where leaders can further refine practice. The school's performance is well above national averages at GCSE and A level, and disadvantaged pupils perform exceptionally well. The inspection confirms that the school is delivering an excellent standard of education.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve exceptionally well across a wide range of subjects, with attainment well above national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND make excellent progress, with disadvantaged pupils' attainment often exceeding national averages for non-disadvantaged pupils.
• Attendance is very high and punctuality is impressive, with rates almost returned to pre-pandemic levels.
• Behaviour is exemplary; pupils are self-disciplined, respectful, and disruption to learning is extremely rare.
• Leadership at all levels is exemplary, with staff feeling valued and well supported, and a strong culture of professional trust.
• The personal development programme is expertly designed, developing pupils morally, socially, spiritually, and culturally.
• Pupils access an exemplary breadth of musical, sporting, and cultural opportunities, with equity of access ensured through financial support.
• The curriculum is ambitious, broad, and balanced, with teaching highly effective and teachers having expert knowledge.
• Inclusion is a strong feature; pupils with SEND are quickly identified and well supported, and disadvantaged pupils are highly aspirational.
• The sixth form is strong, with an ambitious curriculum, high A-level attainment, and excellent preparation for next steps.
• Safeguarding is effective, with an open and positive culture.
• The school works in close partnership with parents and the local community, who are highly supportive.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, teachers do not check pupils' understanding as consistently as in others, which can limit the responsiveness of teaching.
• The use of available information to adapt learning for identified groups of pupils is not yet embedded consistently enough to ensure precisely matched support for all.

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 The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 11.6% 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, 2.2% of pupils at The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC 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 The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School had 12.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.2% 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, 12.1% of pupils at The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 5.4% 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 The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School received £10,340 and spent £10,745 for each of its 1,024 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,192,000 (£2,141 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Saint John Southworth Catholic Academy Trust, income was £9,628 and spending £9,688 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 Kensington And Chelsea · Kensington and Chelsea local authority: places and applications

The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School is part of Saint John Southworth Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• St John XXIII Catholic Primary School London
• St Augustine's RC Primary School London
• St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School London
• Our Lady of Victories RC Primary School London
• St Joseph's RC Primary School London
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School London
• St. Thomas More Language College London
• St Vincent's Catholic Primary School London
• St Vincent De Paul Catholic Primary School London

What is The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School is Strong standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School have?

The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School has 1,034 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School cover?

The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 61.5, and 74% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School?

The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School is at 89 Addison Road, London, W14 8BZ.