Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School
St Michael's Road, Basingstoke, RG22 6SR
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Ages
- 11 to 16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Headteacher
- Mr John Wright
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Portsmouth (rc)
- Constituency
- Basingstoke
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 900
- Pupils on roll
- 894
- URN
- 116478
- Local authority
- Hampshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01256462661
About this school
Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School is a Roman Catholic voluntary aided secondary school in Basingstoke. It teaches children aged 11 to 16 and has 894 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 14 September 2023, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good and saw signs of improvement; a full inspection will follow. The school's last full inspection took place before September 2019, so its area grades are not part of Ofsted's current published data. Older reports are on the school's Ofsted page.
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 176 | 170 | 171 |
| Attainment 8 score | 58.2 | 58.1 | 59.3 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.68 +0.47 to +0.89 | +0.78 +0.57 to +1.00 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 68% | 67.6% | 68.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 82% | 84.1% | 86.5% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 70% | 68.2% | 73.7% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.7 |
Progress 8 is paused nationally for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years. Those pupils sat no key stage 2 tests during the Covid pandemic, so there is no starting point to measure progress from. A blank figure here is not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Hampshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 58.2 | 37.8 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 58.1 | 37.8 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 59.3 | 37.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 4.9% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 890 |
| 2023/24 | 887 |
| 2024/25 | 891 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School compares
Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School ranked 3rd of 67 secondary schools in Hampshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 92% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 66% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 59.3 | 4.7% | 10.3% | 894 | — |
| The Blue Coat School Basingstoke | 33.1 | 13% | 34.3% | 837 | 0.4 miles |
| Brighton Hill Community School | 44.5 | 7.3% | 17.9% | 1,284 | 0.7 miles |
| Cranbourne | 42.7 | 9.5% | 28.3% | 1,088 | 1.0 miles |
| The Vyne Community School | 43 | 8.8% | 32.8% | 740 | 1.9 miles |
| The Costello School | 47.3 | 8.8% | 16.6% | 1,160 | 1.9 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 10.33%
- English as an additional language
- 20.2%
- Overall absence
- 4.72%
- Persistent absence
- 9.93%
Location
Nearby schools
-
The Blue Coat School Basingstoke0.4 miles
Secondary · Basingstoke
-
Brighton Hill Community School0.7 miles
Secondary · Basingstoke
-
Cranbourne1.0 miles
Secondary · Basingstoke
-
The Vyne Community School1.9 miles
Secondary · Basingstoke
-
The Costello School1.9 miles
Secondary · Basingstoke
Other schools in Basingstoke
Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School ranks 1st of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Basingstoke.
- Brighton Hill Community School Secondary
- Cranbourne Secondary
- Everest Community Academy Secondary
- The Blue Coat School Basingstoke Secondary
- The Costello School Secondary
- The Vyne Community School Secondary
- Castle Hill Infant School Primary
- Castle Hill Primary School Primary
- Chalk Ridge Primary School Primary
- Chiltern Primary School Primary
- Cliddesden Primary School Primary
- Fairfields Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What ages does Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School teach?
- Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School teaches children aged 11 to 16. It is a secondary school in Basingstoke.
- Who is the headteacher of Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School?
- The headteacher of Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School is Mr John Wright, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How many pupils are at Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School?
- Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School has 894 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 16.
- Is Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School full?
- Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School has capacity for 900 pupils and 894 on roll (99%), so it is close to full. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School a faith school?
- Yes. Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Portsmouth (rc).
- Is Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School a selective school?
- No. Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- How have Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 58.2 in 2022/23 and 59.3 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School compare with other schools in Hampshire?
- Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School ranked 3rd of 67 secondary schools in Hampshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 92% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 66% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School's absence rate?
- Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School's overall absence rate is 4.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Bishop Challoner Catholic Secondary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.