Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · Hertfordshire
Colney Heath Lane, St Albans, AL4 0TT
78
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Outstanding
Graded 14/11/2023
Application demand
66%
1st preference success · Oversubscribed
Attendance
95.3%
10.0% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,134
Capacity used
Over capacity107%
1,056 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
66%
1st preference success rate
154 of 234 families who put it first got an offer
172
Places offered
683
Total applications
4.0
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 234 | 154 | ● 66% |
| 2nd preference | 172 | 13 | ● 8% |
| 3rd preference | 164 | 4 | ● 2% |
| 4th preference | 113 | 1 | ● 1% |
| Total | 683 | 172 | 25% |
1st preference success by year
Hertfordshire lets families list 4 preferences. 84 applications came from outside the council area (33 offered). Source: Department for Education, school-level applications and offers. Offers are made on each school's admissions criteria (e.g. siblings, distance, faith), so check the school's policy.
Details
- Type
- Academy converter
- Phase
- Secondary
- Age range
- 11–18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Sixth form
- Yes
- Boarding
- No boarders
- Headteacher
- Andy Dunne
- Address
- Colney Heath Lane, St Albans, AL4 0TT
- Phone
- 01727860079
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Ward / constituency
- Hill End · St Albans
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 137938
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 12% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 31% | — | — |
| SEN support | 11% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 2 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: THE DIOCESE OF WESTMINSTER ACADEMY TRUST
1,134 pupils · 1,056 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 23
14 November 2023
Full graded inspection
Outstanding overall effectivenessSixth form Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Quality of education Outstanding Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding - 21
20 October 2021
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good (Improving) - S5 Next
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 918 pupils
Attendance
95.3%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
4.7%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
10.0%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
0.9%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
0.7%
Absences the school didn't approve
Persistent absence by year
Source: Department for Education, pupil absence by school (pupils aged 5–15). Lower absence is better. England figures are approximate 2023/24 averages.
GCSE results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 score | 54.4 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.75 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 59% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 82% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 5.07 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 32.31 | — | — |
Average grade: C+ (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 56.4 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 64.6% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 82.9% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 80.6% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 5.28 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 175 | — |
How different pupils progress (GCSE, 2023/2024)
Progress 8 by group. 0 is the national average; above 0 means pupils do better than similar children elsewhere.
A-level results over time
Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 35.77 | 35 |
| Average grade | B- | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 13% | 17% |
| A-level students | 77 | — |
Results by subject
Official DfE exam results for summer 2025. Green, amber and red compare against typical results in England; subjects with fewer than 5 entries aren't rated.
GCSE
Grade 4 is a standard pass, 5 a strong pass, 7 equals the old A.
| Subject | Entries | Grade 7+ | Grade 5+ | Grade 4+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Literature | 174 | 23% | 70% | 86% | |
| Mathematics | 173 | 39% | 73% | 88% | |
| English Language | 173 | 27% | 71% | 87% | |
| Religious Studies | 173 | 21% | 60% | 75% | |
| Combined Science | 137 | 22% | 53% | 73% | |
| Geography | 97 | 32% | 63% | 72% | |
| Business | 90 | 40% | 73% | 84% | |
| Spanish | 77 | 14% | 30% | 44% | |
| Art and Design | 76 | 21% | 59% | 75% | |
| History | 74 | 38% | 70% | 84% | |
| French | 65 | 12% | 72% | 85% | |
| Biology | 37 | 54% | 95% | 100% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History | 23 | 0% | 26% | 78% | |
| Psychology | 22 | 0% | 9% | 36% | |
| Business Studies | 20 | 10% | 20% | 55% | |
| Sociology | 19 | 5% | 11% | 68% | |
| Mathematics | 18 | 11% | 39% | 56% | |
| Government and Politics | 16 | 0% | 13% | 63% | |
| Physics | 15 | 0% | 27% | 33% | |
| Chemistry | 11 | 0% | 27% | 27% | |
| Geography | 10 | 0% | 30% | 60% | |
| English Literature | 10 | 0% | 0% | 30% | |
| Fine Art | 7 | 0% | 14% | 100% | |
| Mathematics (Further) | 7 | 14% | 43% | 86% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
No Cambridge offers this year
UCAS apply centre 11158: Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | ≤5 |
| Offers | 0 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | 0 |
1 Source: University of Cambridge, applications, offers and acceptances by UCAS apply centre. To protect privacy small counts are hidden: "<3" means 0–2 (up to 2023); "≤5" means 1–5 (from 2024). Success rate is only shown when exact numbers are published (England average is about 20%).
2 Schools ranked by number of offers; this doesn't account for school size. Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures, so they aren't shown.
Where students go next
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education (university) | 59% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 5% | — | — |
| Any education or training | 67% | — | — |
Oxford/Cambridge application numbers aren't published per school in official data, so university progression is shown instead.
House prices near the school
Typical sold prices (Land Registry) within 1 km, last 12 months.
Loading prices…
Key application dates
National deadlines in England. Apply through Hertfordshire council, not the school.
| Entry | Deadline | Offer day |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 (secondary) | 31 October | 1 March (or next working day) |
Admissions policy: Non-selective. Check the school's own admissions rules on its website.
Source: Get Information About Schools and the DfE school and college performance tables (2023-2024); Oxbridge figures from the University of Cambridge's admissions by UCAS apply centre (Oxford doesn't publish per-school figures). Read the method.