Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School

Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School is performing well overall, achieving a 'Good' rating across multiple domains including the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision. The school fosters a warm and caring community, led by a committed leadership team that maintains high expectations for both behaviour and academic achievement. Notably, the school effectively supports students with special educational needs and promotes a strong ethos that resonates with pupils, contributing to their very good attendance rates. However, there are some areas for improvement, particularly concerning outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, who do not consistently achieve as well as their peers. While the curriculum is ambitious and well-structured, there is variation in the effectiveness of questioning during lessons, which can hinder deeper understanding among students. The school is taking steps to address these issues to ensure all pupils reach their full potential.

Strengths

• Welcoming and caring school community
• High expectations for pupils' behaviour and learning
• Strong support for pupils with special educational needs
• Excellent pastoral care recognized by staff and students
• Variety of engaging extracurricular activities offered
• Effective feedback system helping pupils improve their work
• High participation rates in super-curricular activities

Areas for Improvement

• Variation in quality of questioning limits depth of pupil understanding
• Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are not consistently strong
• Need for a shared approach to close learning gaps for persistently absent pupils

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 Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School attended 93.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 20.2% 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, 6.6% of pupils at Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). One pupil was 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 Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School had 19.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.6% 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, 13.9% of pupils at Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 1.4% 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 Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School received £7,395 and spent £7,219 for each of its 1,140 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £536,000 (£470 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Holy Cross Catholic Multi Academy Company, income was £7,233 and spending £7,037 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 Coventry · Coventry local authority: places and applications

Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School is part of Holy Cross Catholic Multi Academy Company, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• St Thomas More Catholic Primary School Coventry
• St John Vianney Catholic Primary School Coventry
• Christ The King Catholic Primary School Coventry
• St Augustine's Catholic Primary School Coventry
• St Elizabeth's Catholic Primary School Coventry
• St John Henry Newman Catholic School Coventry

What is Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School is Good, from an inspection in April 2024.

When was Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School was last inspected in April 2024.

How many pupils does Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School have?

Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School has 1,155 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School cover?

Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 50.4, and 56% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School?

Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School is at Leasowes Avenue, Coventry, West Midlands, CV3 6BH.