St Mary's Catholic School
Windhill, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 2NQ
- Phase
- Secondary
- School type
- Academy converter
- Ages
- 11 to 18
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Trust
- ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
- Headteacher
- Headteacher Deirdre McHugh
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Westminster
- Constituency
- Hertford and Stortford
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 1,029
- Pupils on roll
- 1,106
- URN
- 148499
- Local authority
- Hertfordshire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01279654901
About this school
St Mary's Catholic School is a Roman Catholic secondary academy in Bishop's Stortford. It teaches children aged 11 to 18 and has 1,106 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
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
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Sixth form
- Good
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 4 (GCSEs)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 4 | 183 | 186 | 185 |
| Attainment 8 score | 54.3 | 54.6 | 57.6 |
| Progress 8 score | +0.38 +0.17 to +0.59 | +0.43 +0.22 to +0.63 | - |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 64% | 59.1% | 65.9% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 81% | 81.2% | 89.2% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate | 72% | 66.7% | 67.6% |
| English Baccalaureate average point score | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.3 |
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 Mary's 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 | Hertfordshire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 54.3 | 44.6 | 39.8 |
| 2023/24 | 54.6 | 44.2 | 39.5 |
| 2024/25 | 57.6 | 44.1 | 39 |
Department for Education KS4 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 7.1% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 6.8% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 5.9% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 1,158 |
| 2023/24 | 1,153 |
| 2024/25 | 1,121 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How St Mary's Catholic School compares
St Mary's Catholic School ranked 22nd of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8 in 2024/25. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 91% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | Attainment 8 (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 57.6 | 5.9% | 10.4% | 1,106 | — |
| Hockerill Anglo-European College | 61.7 | 6% | 5.2% | 903 | 0.7 miles |
| The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College | 63.6 | 7.5% | 5.6% | 1,508 | 0.8 miles |
| Avanti Grange Secondary School | — | 5.3% | 12.9% | 660 | 1.0 miles |
| Birchwood High School | 46.1 | 10.2% | 20.1% | 1,417 | 1.2 miles |
| The Bishop's Stortford High School | 60.2 | 5.2% | 6.3% | 1,279 | 1.4 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)
- 10.43%
- English as an additional language
- 25.1%
- Overall absence
- 5.94%
- Persistent absence
- 14.69%
Location
Nearby schools
-
Hockerill Anglo-European College0.7 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
-
The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College0.8 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
-
Avanti Grange Secondary School1.0 miles
Secondary · Bishops Stortford
-
Birchwood High School1.2 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
-
The Bishop's Stortford High School1.4 miles
Secondary · Bishop's Stortford
Other schools in Bishop's Stortford
St Mary's Catholic School ranks 4th of the 5 ranked secondary schools in Bishop's Stortford.
- Birchwood High School Secondary
- Hockerill Anglo-European College Secondary
- The Bishop's Stortford High School Secondary
- The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College Secondary
- All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery, Bishop's Stortford Primary
- Avanti Meadows Primary School Primary
- Birchanger Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Elsenham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Primary
- Farnham Church of England Primary School Primary
- Hatfield Heath Primary School Primary
- Henham and Ugley Primary and Nursery School Primary
- Hillmead Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does St Mary's Catholic School teach?
- St Mary's Catholic School teaches children aged 11 to 18. It is a secondary school in Bishop's Stortford.
- Who is the headteacher of St Mary's Catholic School?
- The headteacher of St Mary's Catholic School is Headteacher Deirdre McHugh, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was St Mary's Catholic School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected St Mary's 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 St Mary's Catholic School?
- St Mary's Catholic School has 1,106 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 11 to 18.
- Is St Mary's Catholic School full?
- St Mary's Catholic School has capacity for 1,029 pupils and 1,106 on roll (107%), 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 Mary's Catholic School a faith school?
- Yes. St Mary's Catholic School is designated Roman Catholic, in the Archdiocese of Westminster.
- Is St Mary's Catholic School a selective school?
- No. St Mary's Catholic School is recorded as non-selective in the schools register.
- Who runs St Mary's Catholic School?
- St Mary's Catholic School is part of ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST. Schools in a trust or federation share leadership and governance, but each keeps its own inspection record and results.
- How have St Mary's Catholic School's results changed over recent years?
- Its Attainment 8 score was 54.3 in 2022/23 and 57.6 in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does St Mary's Catholic School rank locally?
- St Mary's Catholic School ranked 22nd of 78 secondary schools in Hertfordshire for Attainment 8. Its Attainment 8 score was higher than 91% of England secondary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 40% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is St Mary's Catholic School's absence rate?
- St Mary's Catholic School's overall absence rate is 5.9% in the latest published census, at or below the England average of 6.2%.
- What are St Mary's Catholic School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, St Mary's 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 10 July 2026.