English Martyrs Catholic School and Sixth Form College Review 2026: A School in Transition

When guitarist Janick Gers of Iron Maiden opened the school's renovated music block in 2007, he was marking a moment of creative ambition that has shaped English Martyrs ever since. Located in Hartlepool and serving as the only Catholic secondary school in the area, English Martyrs educates over 1,400 students across a newly modernised campus. The school occupies a complex institutional history, having formed in 1973 from the merger of five separate Catholic schools, each represented by a star on the school badge. Today it operates with a specialist sixth form college housed in a dedicated building, opened to both internal progression and external students. The Ofsted inspection of January 2025 rated the school as "Requires Improvement" across multiple areas, though it acknowledged genuine strengths in personal development and sixth form provision. This is a school working through significant challenges around attendance and behaviour whilst maintaining a clear Catholic identity and genuine pastoral commitment.

Beyond the gates, the school presents a calm, purposeful environment. Staff work with evident care to build relationships with students and families, and most pupils demonstrate respect for their peers and teachers. The newly constructed main building, completed in 2019, replaced decades-old facilities and represents a substantial investment in learning spaces. Purpose-built science laboratories, modern computer suites, a separate sports hall, and an expanded dining hall now form the core of the secondary campus. The music and performing arts block, retained from earlier development, houses recording studio facilities and rehearsal spaces opened by the Iron Maiden musician and former student Janick Gers.

The school's Catholic character is integral to daily life. The five house system, introduced in 2009 and named after English Martyrs saints (St John Boste, St Margaret Clitherow, Blessed John Ingram, St Anne Line and St Thomas More), creates vertical communities that compete for house points and build collective identity. Staff at all levels reference the school's eight core virtues: compassion, justice, honesty, respect, self-belief, love, hope and practical wisdom. These are embedded in pastoral structures and explicitly taught through the virtues curriculum.

The school appointed Andrew Rodgers as Executive Headteacher in spring 2025, following an interim leadership period. Colette Hogarth, now in a trust-wide role, provided interim leadership and has shifted to focus on English and staff professional development across the Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust. This period of change reflects the trust's commitment to sustained improvement, though the frequency of recent leadership changes underscores the challenges the school faces.

GCSE Performance

The school's GCSE results are solid but unspectacular by national standards. In 2024, the average Attainment 8 score was 42.4, marginally below the national average of 45.9. Progress 8, a measure of how much progress pupils make from their starting points, stood at -0.57, indicating that students progress more slowly than would be expected given their intake. This is a concerning indicator and reflects one of the key areas Ofsted identified for improvement: high levels of pupil absence and disruptive behaviour in some cohorts are creating gaps in learning, particularly for Year 10 and Year 11 students.

The school ranks 2,513th in England for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking), placing it in the national typical band (middle 35% of schools). Locally within Hartlepool, it ranks 3rd among secondary schools. With an English Baccalaureate entry rate of 13%, the school is selective about which students pursue the broader curriculum pathway.

A-Level & Sixth Form Performance

The sixth form is a genuine strength and was explicitly praised in the latest inspection. Students achieving A*-B grades represent 45%, below the national average of 47% but respectable given the school's intake profile. At the very top end, 7% achieve A* grades. The sixth form was rated "Good" by Ofsted, and inspectors commended students taking vocational qualifications for their high achievement levels. The specialist teaching in sixth form subjects and subject-specific expertise create an environment that many sixth form students actively choose, including external candidates seeking a Catholic learning community.

The school ranks 1,286th in England for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking), again placing it in the national typical band. Locally, it ranks 2nd in Hartlepool. Combined GCSE and A-level ranking is 1,247th nationally.

University Destinations

In the 2024 leaver cohort (88 students), 61% progressed to university, 14% entered apprenticeships, 11% moved into employment, and 1% progressed to further education. One student secured an Oxbridge place (Cambridge), continuing a small but consistent track record of Oxbridge success. The sixth form offering of vocational courses alongside A-levels reflects the school's commitment to diverse pathways beyond purely academic progression.

Ofsted found that teachers have secure subject knowledge and demonstrate competent classroom practice. Reading provision was highlighted as a particular strength, with inspectors noting that pupils gain the skills to become "confident and fluent readers." The school has deliberately redesigned its curriculum following the previous inspection, implementing a new knowledge-focused approach intended to help pupils "know and remember more" of what they have been taught.

However, gaps remain, particularly for Year 10 and Year 11 students who have experienced higher absence rates, meaning curriculum continuity has been disrupted. The school has introduced a new behaviour policy with positive effect, though Ofsted noted that a significant minority of pupils still display disruptive behaviour outside lessons, occasionally affecting others' learning. This is the challenge the school must continue to address if standards are to rise.

The curriculum offers breadth across humanities, sciences, languages, technology, and the creative arts. Religious Education is a core subject, reflecting the Catholic character and commitment to formation alongside academic learning.

The school maintains a notably active extracurricular culture, praised by Ofsted for its breadth and appeal. Enrichment sessions run daily during lunchtime and after school, with the timetable rotating termly to offer fresh opportunities. The school explicitly values musical, dramatic and cultural pursuits alongside sporting activities, educational visits, and faith-based retreat experiences.

Music & Performing Arts

The purpose-built music block includes a professional recording studio equipped with state-of-the-art production facilities, made possible by earlier generations of alumni and visiting musicians. The sixth form operates an orchestra, a Big Band ensemble, a training band, and multiple choirs, with student musicians performing at musical soirées, whole-school concerts and the annual EMS Live production. The quality of musical provision attracts serious musicians and connects the school to its legacy through performers like Janick Gers, who maintains a connection to the school.

The dramatic arts run annual productions involving pupils from all years, with older students and sixth formers taking leading roles. Music and drama departments collaborate on major shows, creating significant co-curricular engagement. A Canon John Bell Lecture, delivered annually in the school's St Anne's hall, honours the school's founding legacy and provides an intellectual platform for the wider community.

Sports & Physical Activity

The school emphasises both participation and excellence in sport. A dedicated sports hall built in the 2019 redevelopment provides a modern venue for indoor games. Traditional sports include football, netball, rugby and basketball, with swimming provision through partnership with local facilities. The Under 13 girls' football team recently achieved a historic milestone by reaching the 6th round of the National Cup, demonstrating competitive quality at representative level. Regular fixtures, inter-house competitions and House Leaders driving sporting participation create a culture where athletic engagement is normalised across the year groups.

STEM & Academic Clubs

The school supports students in competitive mathematics and science. A reading focus permeates the curriculum and co-curricular offer, with accelerated reader programmes encouraging fluency and comprehension. Technology and computing are offered from Year 7 onwards, with ICT infrastructure supporting classroom learning and student research projects. The dedicated Learning Resource Centre serves as a hub for independent study and literacy development.

Community & Leadership Roles

Students take on leadership responsibilities as prefects, school councillors and house captains, making tangible contributions to both school life and wider community engagement. The annual Canon John Bell Lecture, free and open to parents, celebrates the school's history whilst maintaining intellectual rigour. St Anne's hall, named after one of the five merged schools, hosts assemblies, performances and community events. House competitions drive reward points based on attendance, individual achievement, and collective contribution, creating a motivational framework that connects daily behaviour to school identity.

Foreign Trips & Enrichment

The school runs foreign trips and retreat experiences throughout the year, particularly significant for Year 7 with an optional annual retreat. The combination of academic extension, athletic opportunity, creative expression and spiritual formation creates a deliberately holistic extracurricular environment that reflects the school's Catholic mission.

English Martyrs operates as a Catholic community school within the Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, serving six primary feeder schools: St Bega's, St Cuthbert's, St John Vianney's, St Joseph's, St Teresa's and St Christopher's. Admission at Year 7 is oversubscribed, with 2.3 applications per place in recent cohorts. Places are allocated according to Catholic preference criteria typical of faith schools, followed by distance and family links. The school does not operate an entrance test, making admission largely distance and criterion-based rather than selective on attainment.

Sixth form entry is available to external candidates as well as internal progression. A*-C grades at GCSE are typically required for A-level study, though the school offers vocational level 3 qualifications for students whose grades fall in the C-D range, ensuring breadth of post-16 pathways.

School day runs from 8:40am to 3:20pm. The school operates a single, mixed lunch service in the modern dining hall with capacity to seat the entire population. Uniform is required, with detailed specifications published on the school website. Free school meals are available to those meeting Hartlepool Borough Council's eligibility criteria.

The school is located on Catcote Road in Hartlepool, accessible by public transport and with on-site parking for staff and visitors. The site incorporates both the newer main building and the specialist sixth form block, with the music department and performing arts facilities on the same campus.

The school places strong emphasis on knowing each student and providing responsive support. A trained SENDCo coordinates provision for pupils with additional learning needs, and an average of 45 pupils are supported through the SEN register in a given year. Staff work to build positive relationships with families, and mental health and wellbeing support is explicitly available to students struggling with exam stress or personal difficulties.

The house system creates multiple layers of pastoral support. Each house has a dedicated House Leader, and the five House Leaders collectively form the House Team responsible for organising events and providing additional points of contact. Year group pastoral leaders and academic pastoral leaders ensure that both wellbeing and progress are monitored, and formal meet-the-teacher evenings allow parents to maintain contact with subject staff.

However, Ofsted flagged safeguarding and behaviour management as areas requiring further development, particularly around ensuring that concerns about bullying or discrimination are addressed swiftly and with appropriate consequence. The school's religious environment, while formative for many families, can create tensions around inclusivity for students of other faiths or those questioning Catholic teaching on sexuality, gender and reproduction.

Attendance & Behaviour Culture. High levels of absence and disruptive behaviour outside lessons remain ongoing challenges. Ofsted noted that a significant minority of pupils miss too much school or display behaviour that occasionally affects others' learning. The school is actively working to improve this through revised policies and support systems, but families should be aware that learning continuity and classroom calm are not yet consistently experienced across all year groups.

Leadership Change. The school appointed a new Executive Headteacher in spring 2025 after an interim period. While the Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust has provided strong structural support, the frequency of senior leadership transitions in recent years reflects the scale of the improvement challenge. Families should monitor progress reports from the trust and inspect findings to assess whether trajectory is genuinely improving.

Requires Improvement Rating. The school remains rated "Requires Improvement" as of January 2025. Whilst the sixth form is genuinely good and personal development is valued, the core business of academic progress and behaviour management are not yet secure. Schools in this category require close monitoring, and the next inspection will be critical in determining whether improvement is sustained or whether further intervention is needed.

Religious Character. As a Roman Catholic school, faith is genuinely central to school life. This includes daily collective worship, Religious Education taught from a Catholic perspective, and a virtues curriculum reflecting Catholic teaching. Families of other faiths or non-religious families should ensure they are comfortable with this integration of religion into the pastoral and academic experience.

English Martyrs serves Hartlepool's Catholic community with genuine pastoral commitment and is working through a period of substantial improvement. The sixth form is a notable strength, specialist facilities (particularly music) are impressive, and the school culture emphasises virtue and personal development. However, this is a school in transition, with real challenges around attendance and behaviour that are limiting academic progress for significant numbers of students. The January 2025 Ofsted inspection confirms progress has been made but that the school has not yet achieved consistency across all measures. Best suited to families within the Catholic tradition who can engage actively with the school's values and support their child in developing resilience within an environment where behaviour norms are still being embedded. The school offers genuine community and authentic pastoral care, but requires sustained effort from leadership, staff, pupils and families to move decisively from "Requires Improvement" to "Good."