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St Benedict's Catholic School

Secondary Ages 11-18 968 pupils Bury St Edmunds
Ofsted: Good

St Benedict's Catholic School is an academy converter in Bury St Edmunds for pupils aged 11 to 18. It has a Roman Catholic religious character. It has 968 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for St Benedict's Catholic School is Good, from an inspection in April 2022 of its predecessor, St Benedict's Catholic School. In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 51.9, and 50% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Ofsted inspection: June 2025. GCSE results: 2026. A-level results: 2025.

Type Secondary / Academy converter
Age Range 11-18
Religion Roman Catholic
Address Beetons Way
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP32 6RH
Phone 01284753512
Reference Number 149285

General Makeup

Number of pupils 968
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 49.07%
Girls: 50.93%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 11.6%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 23.5%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 22.6

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
7 83 91 174
8 100 74 174
9 77 84 161
10 77 86 163
11 71 83 154
12 35 46 81
13 32 29 61

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 58.1%
White, Other 19.1%
Mixed, Other 4.5%
Indian 4%
Asian, Other 2.6%
African 2%
Unclassified 1.7%
White & Asian 1.3%
White & Black (African) 1.3%
Irish 0.8%
White & Black (Caribbean) 0.6%
Chinese 0.1%
Caribbean 0.1%
Pakistani 0.1%

This school has not been graded since it changed URN, usually on converting to an academy. The rating shown is from its predecessor, St Benedict's Catholic School, inspected in April 2022.

Overall Ofsted Rating Good
Last Report Date 03 Jun 2025 – no overall grade published for this inspection
Date Report
03 Jun 2025 School inspection
08 Sep 2022 Academy conversion letter

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

  • English
  • Maths
  • 3 subjects from qualifications that count towards the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), like sciences, language and history
  • 3 more GCSE qualifications (including EBacc subjects) or technical awards from a list approved by the Department for Education

Each grade a pupil gets is assigned a point score from 9 (the highest) to 1 (the lowest). These scores are added up, with English and maths counted twice.

School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
51.9

GCSE Results

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Grade 5 or above in English and maths 50%
5 or more GCSEs at grade 9-4 (or A-C) 72.7%

Attainment 8 Score

Attaimenment 8 is a measure of a pupil's average grade across a set of 8 subjects. The 8 subjects which make up Attainment 8 are:

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GCSE Results

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Grades

School Local Nationwide
Average Grade B- C+ C+
Average Grade (best 3) B- C+ C+
Percentage Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Students getting AAB or better 14.7%
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Year 7 admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 120 2
Third Preference 60 0
From another Local Authority 44 14

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 St Benedict's Catholic School had 970 pupils for 990 places. 20 places (2.0%) were unfilled.

Pupils and places

Year 7 intake in the “Bury St Edmunds Secondary” planning area

Suffolk counted 642 Year 7 pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 666 in 2031–32, up 4%.

202320242025
Places 990990990
Pupils 950969970
Unfilled 4.0%2.1%2.0%

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 Benedict's Catholic School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 17.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

202320242025
Authorised absence 5.8%5.9%5.5%
Unauthorised absence 2.8%2.4%1.7%
Severely absent pupils 2.9%2.8%2.8%

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, 3.8% of pupils at St Benedict's Catholic School were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). 3 pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

2022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 5.510.513.16.5
Permanent exclusions 1233

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 Benedict's Catholic School had 15.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 4.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

2023202420252026
Pupils per adult 12.212.112.712.5
Teachers who left state teaching 8.3%8.6%2.5%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 82.9%77.8%75.7%–
Sick days per teacher 5.55.04.2–

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, 14.3% of pupils at St Benedict's Catholic School were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 3.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Specific learning difficulty 46 2
Social, emotional and mental health 34 9
Autistic spectrum disorder 16 9
Speech, language and communication needs 16 8
Moderate learning difficulty 7 2
Other difficulty or disability 8 1
Physical disability 3 2
Hearing impairment 3 1
Multi-sensory impairment 2 1
No specialist assessment of need 1 0
Severe learning difficulty 1 0
Vision impairment 1 0

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 Benedict's Catholic School received £7,384 and spent £7,286 for each of its 976 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £939,000 (£962 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,225 and spending £7,189 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

202320242025
Revenue reserve £1,165,000£1,381,000£939,000
per pupil £1,226£1,415£962
In-year balance £337,000£190,000£96,000
per pupil £354£195£98

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.

Name Distance
Tollgate Primary School
Tollgate Lane, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 6DG
0.17 miles
Howard Community Academy
Beard Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 6SA
0.49 miles
St Edmundsbury CofE Primary Academy
Grove Road, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3BJ
0.6 miles
Sexton's Manor Primary School
Greene Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3HG
0.89 miles
Westgate Community Primary School and Nursery
Brooklands Close, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3JX
1.26 miles
Guildhall Feoffment Community Primary School
Bridewell Lane, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 1RE
1.28 miles
St Edmund's Catholic Primary School
Westgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 1QG
1.32 miles
Sebert Wood Community Primary School
Sebert Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 7EG
1.89 miles
Hardwick Primary School
Steward Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 2PW
1.94 miles
South Lee School
Nowton Road, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 2BT
2.24 miles
Abbots Green Primary Academy
Airfield Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 7PJ
2.26 miles
Ickworth Park Primary School
Meadow Drive, Horringer, Meadow Drive, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP29 5SB
2.76 miles
Risby Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School
Aylmer Close, Risby, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 6RT
2.94 miles
Great Barton Church of England Primary Academy
School Road, Great Barton, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP31 2RJ
3.04 miles
Pushforward Primary School
The Stable Barn, Blackthorpe, Blackthorpe, Bury St Edmunds, Rougham, Suffolk, IP30 9HZ
3.66 miles
Great Whelnetham Church of England Primary School
Stanningfield Road, Great Whelnetham, Bury St. Edmunds, IP30 0UA
4.48 miles
Rougham Church of England Primary School
Church Road, Rougham, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, IP30 9JJ
4.6 miles
Name Distance
Bury St Edmunds County High School
Beetons Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 6RF
0.11 miles
Abbey Gardens School
Beard Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 6SA
0.45 miles
King Edward VI CEVC School
Grove Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3BH
0.51 miles
West Suffolk College
Out Risbygate, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3RL
0.63 miles
Abbeygate Sixth Form College
Beetons Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3YU
0.68 miles
Priory School
Mount Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 7BH
1.29 miles
Learning Support, Western Area Education Office
New Shire Hall, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 2AR
1.46 miles
Sir Peter Hall School
Airfield Road, Bury St. Edmunds, IP32 7PJ
2.28 miles
Riverwalk School
Mayfield Road, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 2PD
2.39 miles
Sybil Andrews Academy
Rougham Tower Avenue, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 7QB
2.59 miles
Culford School
3.05 miles
Thurston Community College
Norton Road, Thurston, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP31 3PB
4.56 miles

All schools in Bury St Edmunds · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

St Benedict's Catholic School is part of Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

What is St Benedict's Catholic School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Benedict's Catholic School is Good, from an inspection in April 2022 of its predecessor, St Benedict's Catholic School.

When was St Benedict's Catholic School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Benedict's Catholic School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does St Benedict's Catholic School have?

St Benedict's Catholic School has 968 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Benedict's Catholic School cover?

St Benedict's Catholic School for pupils aged 11 to 18.

What are St Benedict's Catholic School's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 51.9, and 50% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is St Benedict's Catholic School?

St Benedict's Catholic School is at Beetons Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 6RH.

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