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St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Lanchester

Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · County Durham

Consett Road, Durham, DH7 0RD

Website 01207520424

71

headline score

Ranking (England)

—

No ranked results

Ofsted

Requires improvement

Graded 21/03/2023

Application demand

94%

1st preference success · Not oversubscribed

Attendance

91.4%

20.7% persistently absent

Above averageAround averageBelow averagecompared with the England average for state-funded schools.

At a glance

Pupils on roll

1,240

Capacity used

Has space

86%

1,450 places

GCSE rank (England)

—

KS2 rank (England)

—

Application demand

Secondary entry · official council applications and offers

Not oversubscribed

94%

1st preference success rate

217 of 230 families who put it first got an offer

230

Places offered

449

Total applications

2.0

Applications per place

Preference (Sept 2025 entry)ApplicationsOffersSuccess
1st preference230217● 94%
2nd preference13912● 9%
3rd preference801● 1%
Total44923051%

1st preference success by year

87%
2020
81%
2021
82%
2022
84%
2023
90%
2024
94%
2025

County Durham lets families list 3 preferences. 3 applications came from outside the council area (3 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
Nursery
No Nursery Classes
Boarding
No boarders
Headteacher
Catherine Hammill
Address
Consett Road, Lanchester, Durham, DH7 0RD
Phone
01207520424
Local authority
County Durham
Ward / constituency
Lanchester & Burnhope · North Durham
Area
Larger rural: Nearer to a major town or city
URN
138172

Pupils

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Free school meals22%——
English as additional language6%——
SEN support5%——
49% boys (610)51% girls (630)

Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 4 of 5)

1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.

Academy trust: BISHOP WILKINSON CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST

1,240 pupils · 1,450 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.

Ofsted inspections

  1. 26

    17 March 2026

    S5 Inspection · report card

    InclusionExpected standard
    AchievementExpected standard
    Safeguarding standardsMet
    Curriculum and teachingExpected standard
    Attendance and behaviourExpected standard
    Leadership and governanceExpected standard
    Early yearsNot applicable
    Personal development and wellbeingExpected standard
    Post-16 provisionExpected standard
  2. 23

    21 March 2023

    Full graded inspection

    Requires improvement overall effectiveness
    Sixth formGood
    Personal developmentGood
    Quality of educationGood
    Safeguarding effectiveYes
    Behaviour and attitudesRequires improvement
    Leadership and managementGood
View all Ofsted reports

Attendance

2024/2025 school year · 1,175 pupils

Attendance

91.4%

Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%

Overall absence

8.6%

Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%

Persistent absence

20.7%

Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%

Severe absence

5.4%

Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%

Unauthorised absence

3.7%

Absences the school didn't approve

Persistent absence by year

12%
20/21
32%
21/22
26%
22/23
23%
23/24
21%
24/25

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

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Attainment 8 score49.8——
Progress 8 score0.22—0.00
Grade 5+ in English & maths51%——
Grade 4+ in English & maths75%——
EBacc average point score4.60——

Progress 8 band

Well below
5% of schools
Below
26% of schools
Average
43% of schools
Above
21% of schools
Well above
5% of schools

A-level results

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Average points per entry33.07——

Average grade: C+ (England B-)

GCSE results over time

51.2201952.8202249.6202349.8202444.92025

Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)

ResultSchoolEngland (approx.)
Attainment 844.946
Grade 5+ English & maths42.4%46%
Grade 4+ English & maths69.2%65%
Entering EBacc51.3%40%
EBacc average point score4.074.1
Pupils in cohort224—

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.

Disadvantaged pupils
-0.12
Other pupils
+0.30
Low prior attainers
+0.32
Middle prior attainers
+0.13
High prior attainers
+0.45
Girls
+0.27
Boys
+0.17

A-level results over time

33.98201934.17202232.47202333.07202432.942025

Average points per entry by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)

ResultSchoolEngland (approx.)
Average points per entry32.9435
Average gradeC+—
AAB or better (2 facilitating)21.4%17%
A-level students61—

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.

SubjectEntriesGrade 7+Grade 5+Grade 4+
Mathematics22212%52%77%
English Language22113%50%72%
English Literature2167%47%69%
Religious Studies20617%41%58%
Combined Science1957%36%61%
History12525%49%60%
French11312%42%58%
Geography10120%50%70%
Physical Education618%30%51%
Art and Design5212%44%63%
Design & Technology4910%33%59%
Computer Science3824%50%74%

A level

SubjectEntriesA*A*–AA*–B
Mathematics1817%44%61%
Psychology166%13%44%
Geography130%8%38%
Business Studies1323%31%38%
Biology128%25%58%
History120%17%67%
English Literature100%10%20%
Physics90%44%56%
Chemistry90%0%22%
Religious Studies90%0%22%
Sociology70%0%29%
English Language70%14%57%

Oxbridge

<3202002024

Cambridge offers by year

No Cambridge offers this year

UCAS apply centre 10572: St. Bede's Catholic Academy, Lanchester

Cambridge admissions12024
Applications≤5
Offers0
Success rate—
Accepted offers0

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

MeasureSchoolLAEngland
Higher education (university)58%——
Apprenticeships8%——
Any education or training58%——

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 County Durham council, not the school.

EntryDeadlineOffer day
Year 7 (secondary)31 October1 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.