St Benedict's Catholic School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

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 ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England.Suffolk County Council school profile
Retrieved 15 May 2009. Opened in 1967, the school has around 980 students.Direct Gov School profile
Retrieved 15 May 2009 St Benedict's was a Mathematics and Computing Specialist School.Ofsted Profile
Retrieved 15 May 2009 Whilst the school is based in Bury St. Edmunds, many of its students travel from a wide area, including Haverhill,

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...

Stowmarket Stowmarket ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. o ...

, Newmarket and other surrounding villages and towns, because it is the only Catholic secondary school in the vicinity. Previously a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

administered by

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Governme ...

, in September 2022 St Benedict's Catholic School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Trust, and continues to be under the jurisdiction of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia The Diocese of East Anglia () is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church covering the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Peterborough in East of England, eastern England. The diocese makes up part of the Catholic As ...

Academic Achievement

GCSE

As of 2023, St Benedict's had a 79% standard pass rate (grades 4+ in english and maths) and a 55% strong pass rate (grades 5+ in english and maths). Many students go on to study A-Levels, and the school sees some of the top students in the country, having had students achieve 12 grade 9s for multiple years in a row, something that is on average accomplished by 120 students in the UK each year.

A-Level

In 2019, St Benedict's achieved a 100% pass rate (A-E), with 86% of students getting grades which were between A* - C and 20% of students achieved 3 or more grades between A-A*. The sixth form has been rated the best state sixth form in

for multiple years in a row as of 2023

Staff

Since 2019, Imogen Senior has been Headmistress at St Benedict's. From 2017 to 2019, Kate Pereira was Headmistress after taking over from Hugh O'Neill who retired after working at the school for 33 years. As of 2024, there is roughly 118 members of staff working at the school with 65 members of teaching staff.

Ofsted

In September 2014, a snap

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

inspection (which were introduced after

Operation Trojan Horse The Trojan Horse scandal, also known as "Operation Trojan Horse" or the Trojan Horse affair, is a conspiracy theory that posits a plot to introduce an " Islamist" or "Salafist" ethos into several schools in Birmingham, England. The name, based ...

), was held at the school. Following the inspection, the school's previous rating of good was downgraded to "needs improvement". Inspectors found St Benedict's to be in breach of rules surrounding guarding against extremism and radicalisation, and were failing to prepare students "for life and work in modern Britain". The report was withdrawn within hours, with Ofsted stating that "quality assurance checks" were required. In November 2014, the school was one of 11 highlighted by Ofsted as failing to promote British values. The wording of the report was later revised, with references to extremism and radicalisation removed, but the needs improvement rating was maintained. The decision to downgrade the school was criticised both by the

Head teacher A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management Management (or managing ...

of the school and the

Catholic Education Service The Catholic Education Service (CES) is an agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW), whose object is the advancement of the Christian religion, primarily through education. History The CES has its roots in the ...

. An interim inspection then took place in January 2015, and Ofsted wrote to the school to confirm "the school has made progress in key areas since the inspection." Later that month the school was ranked second in the West Suffolk league table, with Head Teacher Hugh O'Neill stating, "The results vindicate the work we do here. I think you will find that there is a disparity between schools' Ofsted ratings and their position in the league table across the county." The school was graded as Outstanding or Good in all areas in its most recent Ofsted inspection carried out in September 2016.

Curriculum

The school follows the

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or othe ...

and offers a range of subjects at

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

and

A-Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

. As a Catholic school, Religious Education is taught from that standpoint and is compulsory at GCSE. Sixth form students who study 3 A Levels are obliged to take a course known as "General Religious Education", which involves no examinations or certificates yet is mandatory. The school offers a sixth form for students over the age of 16, covering Year 12s and Year 13s.

Subjects Offered

GCSE

* English Language * English Literature * Mathematics * Combined Science * Physics * Chemistry * Biology * Religious Education * Art and Design: Fine Art * Business Studies * Computer Science * Drama * Food Nutrition * French * Spanish * Geography * History * Music * Physical Education * Product Design * Art and Design: Textiles

A-Level

* Art and Design * Biology * Business * Chemistry * Classical Civilization * Computer Science * Economics * English Literature * French * Geography * Government and Politics * Health and Social Care * History * History of Art * Mathematics * Further Mathematics * Medical Science * Physics * Physical Education * Product Design * Psychology * Religious Studies * Sociology * Spanish

References

External links

School website

Ofsted reports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Benedict's Roman Catholic Upper School Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of East Anglia Secondary schools in Suffolk Educational institutions established in 1967 1967 establishments in England Academies in Suffolk Bury St Edmunds