St Catherine's School and College
Grove Road, Ventnor, PO38 1TT
- Phase
- Special schools
- School type
- Non-maintained special school
- Ages
- 7 to 19
- Gender
- Mixed
- Principal
- Mrs Sarah Thompson
- Boarding
- Boarding school
- SEN provision
- SLCN - Speech, language and Communication
- Constituency
- Isle of Wight East
- Setting
- Larger rural: Further from a major town or city
- Capacity
- 94
- Pupils on roll
- 94
- URN
- 118226
- Local authority
- Isle of Wight
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01983852722
About this school
St Catherine's School and College is a special school in Ventnor. It teaches children aged 7 to 19 and has 94 pupils on roll.
Ofsted has inspected St Catherine's School and College, and its latest judgement is set out below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Numbers and a report only go so far, so visit in person before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Confirmed by a short inspection, not a full one
Ofsted's most recent visit was a short inspection on 30 January 2024, where inspectors confirmed the school remains Good. 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 | 9 | 11 | 10 |
| Attainment 8 score | 3.1 | 1.1 | 5.0 |
| Progress 8 score | - | -1.45 -2.44 to -0.47 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
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 St Catherine's School and College has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Isle of Wight average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 3.1 | 36.2 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 1.1 | 35.3 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 5 | 37.3 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.7% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 4.7% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 92 |
| 2023/24 | 93 |
| 2024/25 | 89 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 39.71%
- English as an additional language
- 2.2%
- Overall absence
- 4.74%
- Persistent absence
- 10.77%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Forest Edge School5.2 miles
Special schools · Sandown
-
St George's School7.5 miles
Special schools · Newport
-
Medina House School8.0 miles
Special schools · Newport Isle of Wight
-
Lionheart School8.8 miles
Local authority maintained schools · Newport
-
Ryde School with Upper Chine9.3 miles
Independent schools · Ryde
Other schools in Ventnor
- Godshill Primary School Primary
- Niton Primary School Primary
- St Francis Catholic and Church of England Primary Academy Primary
- Wroxall Primary School Primary
- The Island Free School Secondary
Common questions
- What ages does St Catherine's School and College teach?
- St Catherine's School and College teaches children aged 7 to 19. It is a special school in Ventnor.
- Who is the principal of St Catherine's School and College?
- The principal of St Catherine's School and College is Mrs Sarah Thompson, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- Has St Catherine's School and College been inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Catherine's School and College, 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 St Catherine's School and College?
- St Catherine's School and College has 94 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 7 to 19.
- Is St Catherine's School and College full?
- St Catherine's School and College has capacity for 94 pupils and 94 on roll (100%), so it is at or above its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is St Catherine's School and College a faith school?
- No. St Catherine's School and College has no designated religious character.
- What SEN provision does St Catherine's School and College have?
- The schools register lists St Catherine's School and College's special educational needs provision as: SLCN - Speech, language and Communication. Contact the school to discuss how it would support a particular child.
- How have St Catherine's School and College's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 3.1 in 2022/23 and 5 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- What is St Catherine's School and College's absence rate?
- St Catherine's School and College's overall absence rate is 4.7% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Catherine's School and College's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Catherine's School and College'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.