St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy

St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy is a happy and improving school where pupils are proud to attend and embrace values of aspiration, belief and compassion. This was the school’s first inspection under section 5, and it was judged good in all four key areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. The school is part of St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust and converted to academy status in 2022; its predecessor school had been judged to require improvement. Leaders have established high expectations and a broad, ambitious curriculum that is well ordered and delivered strongly by teachers. Pupils behave well in lessons and at social times, achievement is improving, reading is prioritised, and attendance has improved. Pupils benefit from a carefully designed personal development programme, and safeguarding is effective. Staff are well supported, and trustees and the local governing board challenge the school appropriately. The main areas for improvement concern pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and a small minority of pupils whose behaviour does not meet the school’s high expectations. Information given to staff about some pupils with SEND is too generic, and learning is not always adapted well enough, which limits their access to the curriculum. The school also needs to review how it supports the small group of pupils who do not behave appropriately so that they can achieve well.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, proud and embrace the school’s values.
• Pupils have strong relationships with staff based on mutual respect.
• The school has a no-excuse culture with high academic expectations.
• Pupils’ achievement across the curriculum has improved and is now strong overall.
• Pupils behave well in lessons and behaviour is calm at social times.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and well ordered.
• Teachers use strong subject knowledge to explain ideas clearly.
• Teachers check understanding effectively and remedy misconceptions swiftly.
• Reading is prioritised and pupils with reading gaps receive effective support.
• Attendance rates have improved and absence has decreased.
• The personal development programme prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Staff value professional development and well-being support.
• Trustees and the local governing board challenge the school appropriately.

Areas for Improvement

• Information given to staff about some pupils with SEND is too generic and does not help staff tailor teaching effectively.
• Some learning is not adapted well enough to meet the needs of pupils with SEND, limiting their access to the curriculum.
• A small minority of pupils do not behave well, which has a negative impact on their achievement.
• The school needs to review its strategies for supporting pupils who do not behave appropriately.

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 St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy attended 91.1% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 26.5% 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, 14.8% of pupils at St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 8 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 St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy had 14.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.5% 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, 21.1% of pupils at St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.0% 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 St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy received £9,397 and spent £9,307 for each of its 548 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £126,000 (£231 per pupil).

Across all 10 schools of St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £9,073 and spending £8,887 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 St. Helens · St. Helens local authority: places and applications

St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy is part of St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• St Cuthbert's Catholic Academy St Helens
• Holy Family Catholic Academy Wigan
• St Francis Xavier's Catholic Academy Liverpool
• Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic and Church of England Academy Runcorn
• St Ambrose Catholic Academy Liverpool
• Notre Dame Catholic Academy Liverpool
• St Charles' Catholic Academy Liverpool
• Holy Spirit Catholic Academy Bootle
• St Nicholas Catholic Academy Liverpool
• The Trinity Catholic Academy Liverpool

What is St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy have?

St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy has 549 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy cover?

St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 45.1, and 34% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy?

St Augustine of Canterbury Catholic Academy is at Boardmans Lane, Blackbrook, St. Helens, Merseyside, WA11 9BB.