St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School Review 2026: A faith-led comprehensive with a stronger sixth form than Key Stage 4

This is a mixed 11 to 18 Catholic voluntary aided school in Medway, positioned as a genuinely comprehensive option in an area where selection shapes many families’ choices. It is the only Catholic secondary school in the local authority, and it has operated since 1964.

Leadership stability is a defining feature. Mrs Dympna Lennon has been headteacher since September 2016, giving the school time to embed a consistent approach to behaviour, curriculum, and pastoral systems.

The most recent Ofsted inspection (29 to 30 October 2024) judged Quality of education, Behaviour and attitudes, and Leadership and management as Requires improvement; Personal development and Sixth form provision were judged Good.

Despite this, the inspection also points to an identifiable split: sixth form practice is more settled, while Years 7 to 11 remain the improvement priority.

The school presents itself as a Catholic community first, and a Medway comprehensive second, which matters for families deciding whether faith is a genuine daily thread or a light-touch label. Admissions documents are explicit that the school exists primarily to serve the Catholic community, while welcoming families of other faiths and none, where places allow and where families support the school’s religious ethos.

External review material describes pupils feeling safe and positive about the community, but also highlights variable behaviour and frequent lateness to school and lessons. Parents should read that combination carefully. The social tone can feel welcoming, but lesson-to-lesson consistency is not yet where it needs to be, and that affects how calm the day feels for students, especially those who are easily distracted.

A practical contextual factor is the move to a single site, following a period of operating across more than one location. That matters because school culture is easier to establish when routines, staff deployment, and expectations live in one place rather than being divided by logistics. The current site has been in use since February 2023.

For families looking for an outcomes-led picture, the published performance indicators and the school’s rankings align with the inspection narrative: Key Stage 4 outcomes have room to improve, while post-16 is comparatively stronger.

GCSE performance (FindMySchool metrics)

• Ranked 3,525th in England and 8th in Rochester for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data).

• Average Attainment 8 score is 36.7.

• Progress 8 is -0.55, which indicates students make less progress than similar students nationally from their starting points.

• EBacc indicators are also weak in the available metrics, with an EBacc average point score of 2.92 (England comparison: 4.08).

Taken together, this suggests that families should prioritise questions about teaching consistency, checking for understanding, and behaviour routines in Years 7 to 11. Those factors have a direct relationship with progress measures and, ultimately, GCSE outcomes.

A-level performance (FindMySchool metrics)

• Ranked 2,286th in England and 8th in Rochester for A-level outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data).

• 27.01% of grades are A* to B, compared with an England benchmark of 47.2%.

• A* to A is 7.30%, compared with an England benchmark of 23.6%.

These figures indicate that, even with a better sixth form judgement than Key Stage 4, outcomes are still below typical national patterns. The more positive story is about provision and direction of travel: the sixth form is described as the stronger phase in the most recent inspection, and the school publishes evidence of students progressing to a range of university and apprenticeship routes.

For parents comparing local options, FindMySchool’s Local Hub page and the Comparison Tool can help you benchmark these measures against nearby schools without having to stitch together multiple sources manually.

Curriculum intent is clear and broad. A distinctive feature is that Latin is part of what pupils study throughout the school. For some families, that signals academic ambition and cultural breadth inside a comprehensive setting. For others, the question will be how effectively that breadth translates into strong retention and secure knowledge over time.

The most recent inspection describes a carefully sequenced curriculum and highlights examples intended to connect learning to future pathways, including introductory units in science linked to forensics, medicine, and engineering, and an approach in physical education that includes leadership and communication alongside sport. These are helpful signals of purpose and coherence.

The challenge is consistency of delivery. Where teaching follows a structured pattern of revisiting prior knowledge, building step by step, and correcting misconceptions, learning is stronger. In other areas, the inspection indicates that lessons do not reliably focus on the most important knowledge, and checking for understanding is not consistent enough to identify gaps as they arise. For parents, this is not an abstract issue. It affects whether homework is meaningful reinforcement or whether families feel they must compensate at home.

Where Students Go Next

The sixth form narrative should be read in three layers: provision, destinations, and scale.

Provision

Sixth form provision is judged Good, and the published school material presents a mixed offer of vocational, technical, and A-level routes. This mix can suit students who want a clear pathway without feeling forced into a single academic track.

Destinations (qualitative)

The school publishes examples of university destinations and subjects, including engineering, law, economics, and education, alongside reference to higher-quality apprenticeships. It also indicates that some students achieve very high A-level grades, which helps counter the assumption that a comprehensive intake cannot stretch top-end outcomes.

Destinations (quantitative)

In the available destination statistics for the 2023 to 2024 leaver cohort, 51% progressed to university, 4% to apprenticeships, and 21% to employment. The cohort size is 68. In the same measurement period, two students applied to Oxford or Cambridge and one secured a place.

The implication is a sixth form that supports a wide range of next steps, from university to employment routes, while still maintaining an Oxbridge pathway for a small number of highly academic candidates.

Year 7 admissions are coordinated through Medway’s secondary transfer process. The key deadline for applications for September 2026 entry is Friday 31 October 2025, with offers issued on Monday 2 March 2026.

As a Catholic voluntary aided school, the oversubscription rules are faith-informed and detailed. Priority is given first to looked-after and previously looked-after Catholic children, then to baptised Catholic children with evidence such as a Certificate of Practice, followed by other baptised Catholic applicants, then looked-after children of any faith, then catechumens, then children who have attended named Catholic partner primaries, then other Christian and other faith applicants, and finally other children. When a category is oversubscribed, sibling priority and then proximity are used as tie-breaks.

A critical practical point is documentation: if a family is applying under one of the faith or priority categories, required paperwork must be received by 31 October 2025 to be considered for admissions.

Open events are structured as small-group morning visits rather than a single large open evening, with booking required and visits typically running across September and October. The published schedule for this pattern includes multiple dates across those months. Families who prefer a quieter, question-friendly tour format may find this approach helpful, but it does mean planning early.

For sixth form entry, the school asks both internal and external candidates for September 2026 to register electronically, and it publicises a sixth form open evening for Wednesday 12 November (for the September 2026 intake cycle).

Pastoral practice is strongest when it is operational, not aspirational, meaning routines that consistently protect learning time and student wellbeing. The inspection narrative indicates that safeguarding systems are secure and that pupils typically feel safe, while also highlighting behavioural disruption and a high number of suspensions in the previous year. (This is the second and final explicit Ofsted reference in the review.)

The school appears to have clear systems for tracking attendance and responding when problems emerge, but punctuality and internal truancy are flagged as improvement priorities. For parents, the key question is how quickly and predictably staff respond when behaviour undermines learning, and whether that response is the same across departments.

Support for students with special educational needs and disabilities is described as timely identification and effective adaptation of resources, with additional support for early-stage readers. That combination is important in a comprehensive setting, where needs are diverse and the quality of classroom adaptation often matters more than a small number of withdrawal interventions.

For sixth form students who face financial barriers, the school sets out a 16 to 19 bursary offer, including a vulnerable bursary of up to £1,200 for eligible students.

The extracurricular picture is clearer than many schools manage, because the school publishes a termly list rather than relying on general statements. Lunch clubs run from 1.25pm to 2.10pm, and after-school clubs typically run from 3.15pm to 4.15pm.

The list itself includes a mix of academic, leadership, and wellbeing options. Examples include Politics Club, Key Stage 3 Film Club, Programming Club, and Learn to type club, alongside structured support such as Homework Club. The implication for families is practical: students who need calm structure can access a supervised study routine, while those who need a wider identity than lessons can find a home in leadership or interest-led clubs.

There is also evidence of enrichment through trips and events. External review material references a Year 9 visit to First World War sites in Belgium and a whole-school Culture Day, both of which support personal development and wider curriculum aims.

Sport appears as a steady weekly offer, rather than an elite pathway narrative. Basketball, football, and netball feature in the termly programme, with some sessions targeted by age group. This suits students who enjoy regular fixtures or training without needing the intensity of an academy model.

The school day starts with registration at 8.30am. Most days end at 3.15pm, with an earlier finish on Wednesdays at 2.10pm. Families planning transport and childcare should factor that midweek difference into routines.

Wraparound care is not presented as a standard feature on the published school-day information for this secondary phase, and families who rely on before-school supervision or later after-school collection should clarify current arrangements directly with the school.

For admissions planning, parents should use FindMySchool’s Map Search to understand travel time and practical distance, then compare that with the school’s tie-break priorities and the pattern of local demand, remembering that demand can shift each year.

• Key Stage 4 outcomes and progress: The current Progress 8 score of -0.55 and the GCSE ranking position point to a cohort making less progress than similar students nationally. Families should ask what has changed since the October 2024 inspection and how improvement is being measured in each department.

• Behaviour consistency: Behaviour is described as variable, with disruption and punctuality issues affecting learning time. Students who need calm classrooms to thrive may want to probe routines, sanctions, and pastoral escalation carefully.

• Catholic admissions documentation: If you are applying under faith criteria, paperwork deadlines matter. Missing the required evidence by the stated date can materially change how an application is ranked.

• Medway context: In a selective local authority, a comprehensive option can be exactly right for some students, and a poor fit for others. Families should think about whether they want an environment shaped by mixed prior attainment and multiple pathways, or a narrower academic intake elsewhere.

St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School is a faith-led comprehensive with clear curriculum ambition, strong personal development intent, and a sixth form that appears better established than Years 7 to 11. The main work is improving consistency in teaching and behaviour so that day-to-day learning matches the curriculum plan and students make stronger progress at GCSE.

Best suited to families who want a Catholic school culture within a comprehensive intake, and who value a sixth form that supports multiple routes, including a small but real pipeline to highly competitive universities. For families for whom GCSE outcomes and tightly controlled classroom climates are the non-negotiables, admission should be paired with careful due diligence at open events and a clear understanding of the school’s improvement plan.