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St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College

Mixed · ages 11–18 · with sixth form · Roman CatholicCounty Durham, North East · Bishop Auckland DL14 6JTTrust: Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education TrustSchool website
Pupils on roll
1,229of 1,400 places
Free school meals
30.0%
Year 11 cohort 2025
206
Ofsted
School remains Good, 9 May 2024Read the Ofsted report

Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form Centre (URN 114325, until 1 December 2011).

What the data says

Of the 211 pupils who finished Year 11 at St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College in 2023, 46% stayed on in St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form College’s own sixth form (County Durham average 30%), 30% went to a further education college and 6% started an apprenticeship.

Among the 110 students who left the sixth form in 2023, 47% went to university (County Durham 32%, England 37%), and 28% of level 3 students progressed to one of the most selective universities, against 19% nationally; 18% started an apprenticeship, well above the 7% England average.

Religious Studies is unusually popular at GCSE: 95% of the year group took it, against 31% of pupils across England.

GCSE results in 2025 were in line with the national picture: Attainment 8 of 46.4 against 46.1 across England and 44.1 in County Durham, with 41% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).

Where pupils went after Year 11

Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in County Durham and England.

This school
County Durham
England
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureThis schoolCounty DurhamEngland
Pupils in the cohort2115,399607,348
Any sustained destination95%89%92%
Stayed in education86%81%86%
— school sixth form46%30%34%
— sixth form college9%4%13%
— further education college30%46%37%
— other education1%2%
Apprenticeship6%5%3%
Employment4%3%3%
No sustained destination4%8%6%
Destination unknown3%3%

Where students went after sixth form

Destinations of students who finished 16–18 study in 2023, measured the following year.

This school
County Durham
England
University (higher education)Further educationOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureThis schoolCounty DurhamEngland
Students in the cohort1104,586541,441
Any sustained destination89%76%79%
University (higher education)47%32%37%
— most selective universities (top third), of level 3 students28%18%19%
Further education1%5%5%
Apprenticeship18%11%7%
Employment23%28%28%
No sustained destination8%20%16%

GCSE results 2025

MeasureThis schoolCounty DurhamEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)46.444.146.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths41%42%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths69%61%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects12%33%41%
EBacc average point score3.773.754.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort28%32%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils40.035.634.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils48.848.150.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language5%4%19%

Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.

Subjects taken at GCSE

Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEnglandGrades 7–9EnglandGrades 4–9
Mathematics20399%88%8%22%77%
English Language20399%89%18%20%75%
Religious Studies19595%31%25%32%71%
English Literature19494%86%23%21%80%
Combined Science18188%65%6%9%62%
History10852%41%18%26%65%
Geography8139%41%16%25%62%
Fine Art3417%9%21%28%100%
Physical Education2713%11%30%24%96%
Drama2211%7%5%27%73%
Media Studies2211%4%9%20%86%
Photography2211%6%18%19%100%
Physics2110%23%24%46%67%
Biology2110%23%24%45%71%
Chemistry2110%23%19%47%71%
Spanish199%19%21%27%68%
Computer Science178%13%12%30%82%
Food Preparation and Nutrition178%8%12%21%53%
Design and Technology168%11%44%23%94%
French136%18%46%29%100%
Music42%5%33%
Polish10%1%84%

Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Health Studies65100%
Small Business Management3758%
Sports / Movement Science2438%
Computer Appreciation / Introduction2234%
Retailing1016%

A levels and other level 3 courses

MeasureThis schoolCounty DurhamEngland
Students at the end of 16–18 study191
— of whom A level students641,658261,341
Average A level gradeB-B-B-
Average points per A level entry36.3735.7035.00
Average grade, best 3 A levelsB-B-B-
AAB or better with two facilitating subjects14%19%18%
Average grade, applied general courses
Average grade, T levels

A level subjects

Entries as a share of A level students, compared with the share across England.

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
History1930%13%
Mathematics1727%31%
Psychology1422%23%
Biology1219%20%
Media Studies1016%4%
English Language and Literature914%2%
Chemistry914%17%
Computer Science813%5%
Law711%4%
Sociology711%13%
Economics69%13%
Physics69%12%
French1%
Further Mathematics5%
Physical Education3%
English Literature11%
Religious Studies4%
Drama2%
Spanish2%
Geography10%
Fine Art3%

Applied, technical and other level 3 courses

SubjectQualificationEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Social ScienceVRQ Level 32641%
Business StudiesBTEC National Extended Certificate L3 - Band F - P-D*1117%
Study SkillsExtended Project (Diploma)914%
Computer Appreciation / IntroductionOCR Cambridge Technical Introductory Diploma at Level 369%
Health StudiesBTEC National Extended Certificate L3 - Band F - P-D*69%
Sports StudiesBTEC National Diploma L3 - Band J - PP-D*D*
Health StudiesBTEC National Diploma L3 - Band J - PP-D*D*
Fine ArtGCE AS level (All)
English LiteratureGCE AS level (All)
MathematicsGCE AS level (All)
Religious StudiesGCE AS level (All)
Fine ArtGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)
English LiteratureGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)
MathematicsGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)
Religious StudiesGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)
Sports StudiesBTEC National Extended Certificate L3 - Band F - P-D*

Other secondary schools in County Durham

Consett Academy

Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,493 pupils

86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 44.2

Dene Academy

Academy converter · 638 pupils

78% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.4

Durham Academy

Academy converter · 405 pupils

67% stayed in education · Attainment 8 37.4

Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.