Trinity Catholic College

Trinity Catholic College is an improving school where recent changes are beginning to make a real difference. Pupils are happier, behaviour is calm and orderly, attendance has improved markedly, and leadership across the school and Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust is strong. The curriculum has been redesigned to be ambitious and well sequenced, reading is prioritised, and sixth-form students achieve well in many subjects and benefit from strong careers guidance and the football academy partnership. However, the quality of education is not yet good. Despite the new curriculum, pupils' outcomes in external tests remain below national averages in many subjects, and too many pupils leave at 16 without pass grades. Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils underachieve, partly because some SEND guidance is unclear and applied inconsistently. Suspensions have fallen sharply but remain too high for some disadvantaged pupils, creating gaps in learning. Safeguarding is effective.

Strengths

• Strong, determined leadership and effective trust support are driving improvement.
• The curriculum is ambitious, well planned and sequenced from primary school through to the sixth form.
• Teachers check pupils' learning and use checks to address errors and improve work.
• Reading is prioritised, with swift identification and effective support for pupils who need help.
• Attendance has improved markedly, supported by an expert pastoral team.
• Pupils are respectful, and a calm and orderly atmosphere is now the norm.
• Sixth-form students achieve positive outcomes in many subjects, including sport and engineering.
• Students receive strong careers guidance and benefit from the football academy partnership.
• Personal, social and health education and extra-curricular opportunities are effective.
• Governors and trustees know the school well and provide effective support and challenge.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Some SEND guidance is unclear and applied inconsistently, so learning is not always well matched to pupils' needs.
• Recent curriculum improvements have not yet led to consistently strong outcomes in external examinations.
• Pupils perform below the national average in many subjects.
• Too many pupils leave school at 16 without pass grades in a range of subjects.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils do not achieve as well as their peers.
• Suspensions, particularly for some disadvantaged pupils, remain too high and create gaps in 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 Trinity Catholic College attended 89.9% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 30.7% 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, 14.4% of pupils at Trinity Catholic College were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 4 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 Trinity Catholic College had 16.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.5% 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, 13.4% of pupils at Trinity Catholic College were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.3% 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 Trinity Catholic College received £9,651 and spent £8,669 for each of its 1,304 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £848,000 (£651 per pupil).

Across all 38 schools of Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust, income was £7,521 and spending £7,443 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 Middlesbrough · Middlesbrough local authority: places and applications

Trinity Catholic College is part of Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust, which runs 38 schools. The nearest others:

• St Thomas More RC Primary School Middlesbrough
• St Edward's Catholic Primary School Middlesbrough
• St Pius X Catholic Primary School, a Catholic Voluntary Academy Middlesbrough
• St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Middlesbrough
• St Gerard's RC Primary School Middlesbrough
• St Clare's RC Primary School Middlesbrough
• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School Middlesbrough
• Sacred Heart Primary School Middlesbrough
• St Alphonsus' Catholic Primary School Middlesbrough
• Corpus Christi RC Primary School Middlesbrough

What is Trinity Catholic College's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Trinity Catholic College is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was Trinity Catholic College last inspected by Ofsted?

Trinity Catholic College was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does Trinity Catholic College have?

Trinity Catholic College has 1,270 pupils on roll.

What age range does Trinity Catholic College cover?

Trinity Catholic College for pupils aged 11 to 19.

What are Trinity Catholic College's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.7, and 44% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Trinity Catholic College?

Trinity Catholic College is at Lacy Road, Middlesbrough, TS4 3JW.