Catholic points-based admission schools are certain over-subscribed

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

s in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and the English home counties which have adopted admissions criteria based on adherence to the Catholic faith. In order to attend these schools candidates must come from practising Catholic families, or those which are active in the Catholic Church. The schools all have certain similarities: they recruit from across London despite being located in expensive areas; are single-sex (at least up until the 6th form); offer a traditional curriculum; have a strong focus on Catholic formation; achieve GCSE and A Level results 30–35 per cent above the national average; are strong on pupil discipline; have supportive parents; and have high

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford, Universities of Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collect ...

and

Russell Group The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to governme ...

entry rates. These characteristics are not dissimilar to other voluntary aided schools in London such as the

Camden School for Girls The Camden School for Girls (CSG) is a comprehensive secondary school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form, in the London Borough of Camden in north London. It has about one thousand students of ages eleven to eighteen, and specialis ...

, which is a non-faith school. In September 1999 the

New Labour New Labour is the political philosophy that dominated the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-late 1990s to 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The term originated in a conference slogan first used by the ...

government, on grounds of egalitarianism and increasing access, removed the right for state schools to interview pupils to assess practice of their faith. However, the

London Oratory School The London Oratory School, also known as "The Oratory" or "The London Oratory" to distinguish it from other schools, is a Selective Catholic Voluntary Aided secondary school for boys aged 7–18 and girls aged 16–18 in West Brompton. Foun ...

continued to interview to assess Catholicity up until 2006, having won a court case to the effect that, while schools had to have regard to the code of admissions, it was not binding.

References

Catholic education Catholic secondary schools in England School types {{Catholic-school-stub