St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham
Secondary · Academy converter · Mixed · County Durham
North End, Durham, DH1 4NG
82
headline score
Ranking (England)
—
No ranked results
Ofsted
Not judged
Graded 08/10/2024
Application demand
100%
1st preference success · Not oversubscribed
Attendance
93.5%
15.9% persistently absent
At a glance
Pupils on roll
1,293
Capacity used
Over capacity102%
1,265 places
GCSE rank (England)
—
KS2 rank (England)
—
Application demand
Secondary entry · official council applications and offers
100%
1st preference success rate
176 of 176 families who put it first got an offer
192
Places offered
481
Total applications
2.5
Applications per place
| Preference (Sept 2025 entry) | Applications | Offers | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st preference | 176 | 176 | ● 100% |
| 2nd preference | 168 | 13 | ● 8% |
| 3rd preference | 137 | 3 | ● 2% |
| Total | 481 | 192 | 40% |
1st preference success by year
County Durham lets families list 3 preferences. 8 applications came from outside the council area (5 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
- David Simmons
- Address
- North End, Durham, DH1 4NG
- Phone
- 01913848575
- Local authority
- County Durham
- Ward / constituency
- Neville's Cross · City of Durham
- Area
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- URN
- 143583
Pupils
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free school meals | 15% | — | — |
| English as additional language | 7% | — | — |
| SEN support | 5% | — | — |
Local deprivation (IDACI quintile 3 of 5)
1 = least deprived area, 5 = most deprived. Context only.
Academy trust: BISHOP WILKINSON CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST
1,293 pupils · 1,265 places. Intake figures describe the school's community — they aren't good or bad.
Ofsted inspections
- 24
08 October 2024
Full graded inspection
Not judged overall effectivenessSixth form Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Quality of education Outstanding Safeguarding effective Yes Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding - 19
10 October 2019
Ungraded inspection
School remains Good
Attendance
2024/2025 school year · 1,085 pupils
Attendance
93.5%
Share of sessions attended · England 91.1%
Overall absence
6.5%
Sessions missed, any reason · England 8.9%
Persistent absence
15.9%
Pupils missing 10%+ of school · England 26.7%
Severe absence
2.7%
Pupils missing 50%+ of school · England 2.3%
Unauthorised absence
1.7%
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 | 57.2 | — | — |
| Progress 8 score | 0.64 | — | 0.00 |
| Grade 5+ in English & maths | 62% | — | — |
| Grade 4+ in English & maths | 83% | — | — |
| EBacc average point score | 4.81 | — | — |
Progress 8 band
A-level results
| Measure | School | LA | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average points per entry | 35.16 | — | — |
Average grade: B- (England B-)
GCSE results over time
Attainment 8 by year (2020 and 2021 exams were cancelled)
| Result | School | England (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 | 57.7 | 46 |
| Grade 5+ English & maths | 59.1% | 46% |
| Grade 4+ English & maths | 80% | 65% |
| Entering EBacc | 36.4% | 40% |
| EBacc average point score | 5.01 | 4.1 |
| Pupils in cohort | 225 | — |
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 | 38.91 | 35 |
| Average grade | B | — |
| AAB or better (2 facilitating) | 24.7% | 17% |
| A-level students | 95 | — |
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+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 224 | 33% | 65% | 84% | |
| English Language | 224 | 35% | 72% | 85% | |
| English Literature | 224 | 32% | 69% | 83% | |
| Religious Studies | 220 | 56% | 80% | 87% | |
| Combined Science | 168 | 15% | 54% | 73% | |
| History | 160 | 39% | 64% | 71% | |
| Art and Design | 98 | 49% | 90% | 97% | |
| Geography | 74 | 54% | 82% | 85% | |
| Biology | 56 | 70% | 100% | 100% | |
| Physics | 56 | 75% | 100% | 100% | |
| Chemistry | 56 | 79% | 98% | 100% | |
| German | 46 | 22% | 50% | 70% |
A level
| Subject | Entries | A* | A*–A | A*–B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 33 | 9% | 24% | 48% | |
| Chemistry | 30 | 13% | 40% | 83% | |
| Mathematics | 29 | 21% | 48% | 72% | |
| Biology | 27 | 7% | 30% | 63% | |
| History | 23 | 9% | 22% | 52% | |
| Physics | 15 | 33% | 53% | 87% | |
| English Literature | 13 | 31% | 54% | 92% | |
| Sociology | 12 | 17% | 33% | 58% | |
| Mathematics (Further) | 11 | 36% | 55% | 73% | |
| Government and Politics | 11 | 0% | 9% | 27% | |
| Geography | 10 | 0% | 30% | 70% | |
| Religious Studies | 8 | 0% | 0% | 38% |
Oxbridge
Cambridge offers by year
Ranked #160 of 1,018 UK schools with Cambridge offers2
UCAS apply centre 14388: St Leonard's Catholic School, Durham
| Cambridge admissions1 | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Applications | 9 |
| Offers | ≤5 |
| Success rate | — |
| Accepted offers | ≤5 |
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) | 66% | — | — |
| Apprenticeships | 4% | — | — |
| 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 County Durham 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.