Sacred Heart Catholic High School
Fenham Hall Drive, Fenham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE4 9YH
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Girls
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- BISHOP BEWICK CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mrs Suzanne Howell
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle
- Sponsor
- Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust
- Constituency
- Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,405
- Pupils on roll
- 1,424
- URN
- 137708
- Local authority
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01912747373
About this school
Sacred Heart Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic girls' secondary academy in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,424 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school 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
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Outstanding
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Outstanding
- Personal development
- Outstanding
- Leadership and management
- Outstanding
- Sixth form
- Outstanding
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 224 | 222 | 224 |
| Attainment 8 score | 53.5 | 56.9 | 52.1 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.21 +0.03 to +0.40 | +0.54 +0.35 to +0.73 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 51% | 59.9% | 53.6% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 74% | 81.1% | 76.8% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 42% | 53.6% | 36.2% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.4 |
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 Sacred Heart Catholic High 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 | Newcastle upon Tyne average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53.5 | 38.3 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 56.9 | 38 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 52.1 | 38 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 8.5% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 8.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 9.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,393 |
| 2023/24 | 1,387 |
| 2024/25 | 1,392 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Sacred Heart Catholic High School compares
Sacred Heart Catholic High School ranked 3rd of 12 secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52.1 | 9.5% | 37.8% | 1,424 | — |
| St Cuthbert's High School | 49 | 8.1% | 40.3% | 1,224 | 0.7 miles |
| Kenton School | 38.7 | 12.9% | 64.2% | 1,589 | 1.5 miles |
| Studio West | 30.9 | 13% | 63.2% | 496 | 1.8 miles |
| North East Futures UTC | 35.4 | 15.6% | 54.3% | 314 | 2.0 miles |
| Kingsmeadow Community School | 42.9 | 9.5% | 49.4% | 868 | 2.2 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)
- 37.75%
- English as an additional language
- 21.6%
- Overall absence
- 9.54%
- Persistent absence
- 26.36%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Cuthbert's High School0.7 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Kenton School1.5 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
Studio West1.8 miles
Secondary · Newcastle-upon-Tyne
-
North East Futures UTC2.0 miles
Secondary · Newcastle Upon Tyne
-
Kingsmeadow Community School2.2 miles
Secondary · Gateshead
Other schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Sacred Heart Catholic High School ranks 4th of the 15 ranked secondary schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Benfield School Secondary
- Callerton Academy Secondary
- George Stephenson High School Secondary
- Gosforth Academy Secondary
- Jesmond Park Academy Secondary
- Kenton School Secondary
- Longbenton High School Secondary
- North Gosforth Academy Secondary
- St Cuthbert's High School Secondary
- St Mary's Catholic School Secondary
- Studio West Secondary
- Walbottle Academy Secondary
Common questions
- What year groups does Sacred Heart Catholic High School teach?
- Sacred Heart Catholic High School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Who is the headteacher of Sacred Heart Catholic High School?
- The headteacher of Sacred Heart Catholic High School is Mrs Suzanne Howell, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Sacred Heart Catholic High School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Sacred Heart Catholic High 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 big is Sacred Heart Catholic High School?
- Sacred Heart Catholic High School has 1,424 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Sacred Heart Catholic High School full?
- Sacred Heart Catholic High School has capacity for 1,405 pupils and 1,424 on roll (101%), 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 Sacred Heart Catholic High School a faith school?
- Yes. Sacred Heart Catholic High School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.
- Is Sacred Heart Catholic High School a selective school?
- No. Sacred Heart Catholic High School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Sacred Heart Catholic High School?
- Sacred Heart Catholic High School is part of BISHOP BEWICK CATHOLIC EDUCATION TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Sacred Heart Catholic High School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 53.5 in 2022/23 and 52.1 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Sacred Heart Catholic High School rank locally?
- Sacred Heart Catholic High School ranked 3rd of 12 secondary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 81% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 9% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Sacred Heart Catholic High School's absence rate?
- Sacred Heart Catholic High School's overall absence rate is 9.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Sacred Heart Catholic High School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Sacred Heart Catholic High 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 1 July 2026.