St Patrick's Catholic College, A Voluntary Catholic Academy, Stockton-on-Tees

Ofsted's report card from its 13 January 2026 inspection grades St Patrick's Catholic College, A Voluntary Catholic Academy on 6 areas: 1 strong standard and 5 expected standard. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Strong standard. "Attendance is a high priority at St Patrick's."

Achievement - Expected standard. "Leaders have improved pupils' achievement in recent years."

Curriculum and teaching - Expected standard. "Leaders have developed a broad and ambitious curriculum that is typically well designed so that pupils build their knowledge and skills over time."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "St Patrick's is an inclusive school where there are high expectations for all pupils."

Leadership and governance - Expected standard. "Leaders, including those responsible for governance, have a deep understanding of the community the school serves and the barriers that many of its pupils face."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "The school has a comprehensive programme for personal development that supports pupils well."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "• Leaders should work with staff to ensure that teaching is adapted consistently well to support pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding so that they are supported to achieve all that they can. • Leaders should further develop the impact of both the teaching and assessment of personal, social and health education to ensure that pupils develop a consistently deep understanding of this curriculum".

In its own words: "Our Mission statement reflects the three components that sum up the importance of the human experience grounded in Gospel values. Faith: It signifies the importance of Faith in enabling us all to achieve everything we can with the support of the grace of God."

From the headteacher's welcome: "It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to St Patrick’s Catholic College, a ‘good’ school at the heart of the community for 60 years. We work closely with our parishes, community, governors and staff to create a welcoming environment for all, with Christ at the centre of all that we do."

Clubs and activities named on the school's website include STEM and Duke of Edinburgh.

In 2026, pupils at St Patrick's Catholic College, A Voluntary Catholic Academy averaged an Attainment 8 score of 46, the average grade across their best eight GCSEs. The average state school scored 46.7 in Stockton-on-Tees and 47 across England.

48% passed English and maths at grade 5 or above, against 52% in Stockton-on-Tees and 47% in England.

That is up from 40.3 in 2025.

Its most recent Progress 8 score, for 2024, was -0.18: pupils made below 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 40.9, against 49.6 for other pupils at the school - a gap of 8.7 points.

Pupils sat GCSEs in 17 subjects; after English and maths, the most popular were Religious Studies, Combined Science and History.

For September 2026 entry, 99 families put St Patrick's Catholic College, A Voluntary Catholic Academy as their first choice and 185 named it as one of their preferences, for 109 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state secondary schools to St Patrick's Catholic College, A Voluntary Catholic Academy are Thornaby Academy (0.1 miles, Requires improvement, Attainment 8 42.4); Acklam Grange School (1.1 miles, Good, Attainment 8 48.8); Outwood Academy Acklam (1.9 miles, Good, Attainment 8 41.7); and Macmillan Academy (1.9 miles, Good, Attainment 8 43.3).

St Patrick's Catholic College, A Voluntary Catholic Academy's 2026 results were higher than 3 of these 4 schools.

St Patrick's Catholic College, A Voluntary Catholic Academy is one of 38 schools run by Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust, an academy trust.

Across the trust's secondary schools, pupils averaged an Attainment 8 score of 44.2 in 2024/25.

55 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about St Patrick's Catholic College, A Voluntary Catholic Academy (as of April 2026): 66% would recommend the school, 66% say their child is happy there and 29% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (69%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (29%).

Of the 100 pupils who finished Year 11 in 2023/24, 70% stayed in education or training for at least two terms, including 65% to a further education college, 7% to an apprenticeship and 4% into work.

39.5% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 6.9% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (85%) and Black (8%).

In 2026, 79 pupils (13.9%) received SEN support and 13 (2.3%) 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 autism.

The nearest railway station is Thornaby Rail Station, about 1.1 miles away in a straight line.

10 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is St Patrick's Catholic College (a), 70 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 453 crimes within a mile of the school, most often shoplifting, violence and sexual offences and criminal damage and arson. That is well above the typical figure around schools in Stockton-on-Tees (204), as is usual near a town centre.

In 2024/25, St Patrick's Catholic College, A Voluntary Catholic Academy issued 408 suspensions, 74.2 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and 3 permanent exclusions.

The primary schools closest to St Patrick's Catholic College, A Voluntary Catholic Academy are Thornaby Church of England Primary School (0.1 miles); Village Primary School (0.5 miles); Mandale Mill Primary School (0.5 miles); and St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Catholic Academy (0.6 miles). Admission does not depend on which primary a child attends unless the school's policy names feeder schools.