Blessed William Howard Catholic School
Rowley Avenue, Stafford, ST17 9AB
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ST GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL CATHOLIC MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Mr Karl Brown
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Birmingham
- Sponsor
- St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Multi-Academy Trust
- Constituency
- Stafford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,065
- Pupils on roll
- 950
- URN
- 142193
- Local authority
- Staffordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01785244236
About this school
Blessed William Howard Catholic School is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Stafford. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 950 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. 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 22 May 2024, 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 | 151 | 173 | 164 |
| Attainment 8 score | 53.5 | 54.5 | 52.0 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.57 +0.34 to +0.80 | +0.41 +0.20 to +0.63 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 56% | 54.9% | 52.4% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 74% | 76.9% | 75% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 70% | 69.9% | 73.8% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 4.8 | 5.0 | 4.7 |
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 Blessed William Howard Catholic 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 | Staffordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 53.5 | 36.7 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54.5 | 35 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 52 | 36.6 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 6.8% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.6% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 6.3% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 900 |
| 2023/24 | 951 |
| 2024/25 | 957 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Blessed William Howard Catholic School compares
Blessed William Howard Catholic School ranked 6th of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire 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 35% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 52 | 6.3% | 22.2% | 950 | — |
| King Edward VI High School | 33.4 | 7.4% | 34.9% | 646 | 0.4 miles |
| Stafford Manor High School | 30.6 | 11.4% | 48.1% | 439 | 1.0 miles |
| Sir Graham Balfour High School | 45 | 8.8% | 21.3% | 1,003 | 2.0 miles |
| The Weston Road Academy | 44.7 | 8.2% | 20.3% | 978 | 2.2 miles |
| Walton High School | 50.6 | 5.8% | 8.1% | 1,262 | 2.4 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)
- 22.15%
- English as an additional language
- 13.2%
- Overall absence
- 6.25%
- Persistent absence
- 16.15%
Location
Nearby schools
-
King Edward VI High School0.4 miles
Secondary · Stafford
-
Stafford Manor High School1.0 miles
Secondary · Stafford
-
Sir Graham Balfour High School2.0 miles
Secondary · Stafford
-
The Weston Road Academy2.2 miles
Secondary · Stafford
-
Walton High School2.4 miles
Secondary · Stafford
Other schools in Stafford
Blessed William Howard Catholic School ranks 1st of the 7 ranked secondary schools in Stafford.
- King Edward VI High School Secondary
- Sir Graham Balfour High School Secondary
- Stafford Manor High School Secondary
- The Weston Road Academy Secondary
- Walton High School Secondary
- Wolgarston High School Secondary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Primary
- All Saints CofE (C) First School Primary
- All Saints CofE Primary School, Bednall Primary
- Anson CofE Primary School Primary
- Barnfields Primary School Primary
- Beaconfields Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Blessed William Howard Catholic School teach?
- Blessed William Howard Catholic School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Stafford.
- Who is the headteacher of Blessed William Howard Catholic School?
- The headteacher of Blessed William Howard Catholic School is Mr Karl Brown, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Blessed William Howard Catholic School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Blessed William Howard Catholic 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 Blessed William Howard Catholic School?
- Blessed William Howard Catholic School has 950 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is Blessed William Howard Catholic School full?
- Blessed William Howard Catholic School has capacity for 1,065 pupils and 950 on roll (89%), so it has space against 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 Blessed William Howard Catholic School a faith school?
- Yes. Blessed William Howard Catholic School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
- Is Blessed William Howard Catholic School a selective school?
- No. Blessed William Howard Catholic School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs Blessed William Howard Catholic School?
- Blessed William Howard Catholic School is part of ST GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL CATHOLIC MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have Blessed William Howard Catholic School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 53.5 in 2022/23 and 52 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Blessed William Howard Catholic School rank locally?
- Blessed William Howard Catholic School ranked 6th of 56 secondary schools in Staffordshire 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 35% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Blessed William Howard Catholic School's absence rate?
- Blessed William Howard Catholic School's overall absence rate is 6.3% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Blessed William Howard Catholic School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Blessed William Howard Catholic 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 2 July 2026.