St Bonaventure's RC School, London

In its own words: "St Bonaventure’s school was founded by and is part of the Catholic Church. It is steeped in Christian principles and enriched by the cultural and religious diversity of its environment. We endeavour to be a community where each individual can grow spiritually, academically and socially while at all times serving as a witness to the Catholic faith."

From the headteacher's welcome: "St Bonaventure’s has a long and distinguished history. Our school has been providing the very best education for Roman Catholic boys in this area since before 1875."

In 2026, pupils at St Bonaventure's RC School averaged an Attainment 8 score of 53.5, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 50.6 in Newham and 47 across England.

57% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 54% in Newham and 47% in England.

That is up from 47.3 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was 0.17: pupils made above average progress compared with pupils nationally who started secondary school at the same level. Progress 8 was not published for 2026.

Disadvantaged pupils averaged an Attainment 8 of 50.7, against 56.1 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 5.4 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 23 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and Spanish.

For September 2026 entry, 161 families put St Bonaventure's RC School as their first choice and 458 named it as one of their preferences, for 203 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. 10 families who put it first were not offered a place there.

The nearest other state secondary schools to St Bonaventure's RC School are Stratford School Academy (0.2 miles, Good, Attainment 8 51); St Angela's Ursuline School (0.3 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 55.2); Lister Community School (0.5 miles, Attainment 8 48.1); and Forest Gate Community School (0.8 miles, Outstanding, Attainment 8 59).

St Bonaventure's RC School's 2026 results were higher than 2 of these 4 schools.

Of the 193 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 96% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 19% to a further education college and 1% to an apprenticeship.

Of the 168 students who left the sixth form in 2023/24, 79% went on to university or other higher education, 2% to apprenticeships and 8% into work. 22% went to one of the most selective third of universities.

41.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 52.2% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are Asian (36%), Black (34%) and Mixed (10%).

In 2026, 147 pupils (10.9%) received SEN support and 32 (2.4%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.

The nearest Underground station is Upton Park Underground Station, about 780 metres away (roughly a 10-minute walk).

14 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is West Ham Park, 140 metres away.

In 2024/25, St Bonaventure's RC School issued 102 suspensions, 7.6 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 1 permanent exclusion.

The primary schools closest to St Bonaventure's RC School are St Antony's Catholic Primary School (0.1 miles), Elmhurst Primary School (0.2 miles), Selwyn Primary School (0.2 miles) and Upton Cross Primary School (0.4 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.