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St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon

Mixed · ages 11–18 · with sixth form · Roman CatholicGateshead, North East · Blaydon-on-Tyne NE21 4BQTrust: Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education TrustSchool website
Pupils on roll
1,401of 1,509 places
Free school meals
19.7%
Year 11 cohort 2025
230
Ofsted
Good, 1 March 2023Read the Ofsted report

Results below include those reported under the school’s previous registration: St Thomas More Catholic School (URN 108413, until 1 February 2012).

What the data says

Of the 246 pupils who finished Year 11 at St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon in 2023, 52% stayed on in St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon’s own sixth form (Gateshead average 40%), 36% went to a further education college and 4% started an apprenticeship.

Among the 122 students who left the sixth form in 2023, 61% went to university (Gateshead 33%, England 37%), and 39% of level 3 students progressed to one of the most selective universities, against 19% nationally; 14% started an apprenticeship, well above the 7% England average.

French is unusually popular at GCSE: 64% of the year group took it, against 18% of pupils across England.

GCSE results in 2025 were above the national picture: Attainment 8 of 51.9 against 46.1 across England and 47.0 in Gateshead, with 60% 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 Gateshead and England.

This school
Gateshead
England
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureThis schoolGatesheadEngland
Pupils in the cohort2462,044607,348
Any sustained destination94%91%92%
Stayed in education89%84%86%
— school sixth form52%40%34%
— sixth form college0%13%
— further education college36%42%37%
— other education1%2%2%
Apprenticeship4%4%3%
Employment2%3%3%
No sustained destination3%7%6%
Destination unknown2%2%3%

Where students went after sixth form

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

This school
Gateshead
England
University (higher education)Further educationOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
MeasureThis schoolGatesheadEngland
Students in the cohort1222,144541,441
Any sustained destination93%79%79%
University (higher education)61%33%37%
— most selective universities (top third), of level 3 students39%17%19%
Further education3%7%5%
Apprenticeship14%12%7%
Employment15%28%28%
No sustained destination6%14%16%

GCSE results 2025

MeasureThis schoolGatesheadEngland
Attainment 8 (average points per pupil)51.947.046.1
Grade 5 or above in English and maths60%50%45%
Grade 4 or above in English and maths78%69%65%
Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects64%49%41%
EBacc average point score4.734.234.09
Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort21%31%28%
Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils38.333.934.9
Attainment 8 — other pupils55.552.850.4
Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2)
English as an additional language5%10%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
English Language229100%89%25%20%78%
Mathematics22899%88%25%22%86%
Religious Studies22397%31%32%32%75%
English Literature22397%86%23%21%84%
Combined Science16270%65%7%9%68%
French14764%18%24%29%71%
History11650%41%22%26%66%
Geography11349%41%29%25%71%
Business Studies7934%18%18%20%81%
Biology6227%23%42%45%94%
Chemistry6227%23%58%47%92%
Physics6227%23%53%46%95%
Fine Art3917%9%38%28%85%
Physical Education3214%11%34%24%81%
Computer Science2812%13%18%30%61%
Textiles2210%2%50%27%100%
Photography146%6%50%19%79%
Design and Technology125%11%42%23%75%
Drama115%7%18%27%91%
Music104%5%20%33%80%
Polish21%1%84%
Spanish10%19%27%
Russian10%0%87%

Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications

SubjectEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Manufacturing Engineering4541%
Health Studies3229%
Computer Appreciation / Introduction2624%
Small Business Management2119%
Childcare Skills1514%
Sports Studies1312%
Hospitality / Catering Studies1211%

A levels and other level 3 courses

MeasureThis schoolGatesheadEngland
Students at the end of 16–18 study214
— of whom A level students109769261,341
Average A level gradeC+C+B-
Average points per A level entry34.8434.1735.00
Average grade, best 3 A levelsB-B-B-
AAB or better with two facilitating subjects13%17%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
Mathematics4844%31%
Psychology3936%23%
Biology3330%20%
Religious Studies2725%4%
Physics1917%12%
Geography1917%10%
Chemistry1817%17%
History1413%13%
Business Studies1312%13%
English Literature98%11%
English Language87%4%
Drama76%2%
Fine Art66%3%
Textiles1%
Computer Science5%
Product Design2%
French1%
Further Mathematics5%

Applied, technical and other level 3 courses

SubjectQualificationEntriesShare of cohortEngland
Business StudiesOCR Cambridge Technical Extended Certificate at Level 31514%
Study SkillsExtended Project (Diploma)1312%
Health StudiesVRQ Level 31211%
Sports StudiesBTEC National Extended Certificate L3 - Band F - P-D*1211%
Engineering StudiesBTEC National Extended Certificate L3 - Band F - P-D*1110%
Mathematical StudiesCore Maths Qualifications at Level 3
Sports StudiesBTEC Level 3 National Certificate (Band D)
Further MathematicsGCE AS level (All)
PhysicsGCE AS level (All)
PsychologyGCE AS level (All)
Further MathematicsGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)
PhysicsGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)
PsychologyGCE AS level (Not continued to A2)
Computer Appreciation / IntroductionOCR Cambridge Technical Introductory Diploma at Level 3

Where St Thomas More Catholic School, Blaydon is

Other secondary schools in Gateshead are shown for comparison; darker blue means more Year 11 leavers stayed in education. The last distance at which this school offered places is not yet on file — it comes from Gateshead’s allocation statistics.

Other secondary schools in Gateshead

Grace College

Academy converter · sixth form · 1,125 pupils

74% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.9

Thorp Academy

Academy sponsor led · sixth form · 1,442 pupils

80% stayed in education · Attainment 8 47.2

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.