SCHOOL PROFILE

St Columba's Catholic Boys' School

Secondary Academy converter URN 138650
Open
Pupils 8,834,192 Latest school census
Capacity 900 Published school capacity
Capacity used 89.4% Pupils as a share of capacity
Age range 11 – 16 Statutory age range
OFSTED

Latest ungraded inspection

27 November 2024
Latest published outcome Standards maintained
SCHOOL DETAILS

About this school

School type Academy converter
Phase Secondary
Gender Boys
Religious character Roman Catholic
Local authority Bexley
Trust ST OSCAR ROMERO CATHOLIC ACADEMY TRUST
Census date 15 January 2026
PUPIL PROFILE

School community

Latest published pupil characteristics for 2025/26.

2025/26
Total pupils 805 805 full-time · 0 part-time
Female pupils 0 0.0% of pupils
Male pupils 805 100.0% of pupils

Free school meals

Pupils eligible for free school meals.

24.0%
0.8 pts below England
School 24.0%
Bexley 20.2%
London 26.3%
England 24.8%

English as an additional language

Pupils whose first language is not English.

19.4%
0.9 pts below England
School 19.4%
Bexley 22.7%
London 39.2%
England 20.3%

Young carers

Pupils recorded as young carers.

0.4%
0.6 pts below England
School 0.4%
Bexley 0.6%
London 0.5%
England 1.0%

Ethnicity

Largest recorded pupil groups.

African
46.8%
377
White British
17.3%
139
Any other Asian background
6.7%
54
Any other Black background
5.6%
45
Any other White background
4.3%
35
Indian
4.2%
34
Council, regional and national comparisons are pupil-weighted using published school census counts.
ADDITIONAL NEEDS

Special educational needs

Pupils receiving SEN support or with an education, health and care plan.

2025/26
Pupils with SEN 15.5% 125 of 805 pupils
5.3 pts below England England: 20.8%
School 15.5%
Bexley 19.4%
London 19.8%
England 20.8%
SEN support 9.6% 77 pupils
England 14.8% 5.2 pts below
EHC plans 6.0% 48 pupils
England 6.0% 0.1 pts below
PRIMARY NEEDS

Most common identified needs

Pupils
Speech, language & communication 36
Autistic spectrum disorder 34
Social, emotional & mental health 19
Specific learning difficulty 14
Other difficulty or disability 9
Moderate learning difficulty 5

SEN comparisons are pupil-weighted using published 2025/26 Department for Education school-level data. Primary needs combine pupils receiving SEN support and pupils with EHC plans.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Key stage 4 outcomes

Published Department for Education results for 2024/25.

2024/25
ATTAINMENT 8

Average attainment score

51.4 12.2 pts above England
School 51.4
Bexley 42.0
London 42.1
England 39.2
English & maths grade 5+ 53.2% England 36.0% 17.2 pts above England
English & maths grade 4+ 75.3% England 51.4% 23.9 pts above England
EBacc entry 20.3% England 30.6% 10.3 pts below England
EBacc average point score 4.42 England 3.41
Progress 8 Not available for 2024/25

Latest published: 0.04 · 2023/24

Comparisons are averages of published school-level results for open schools. They are not pupil-weighted official local authority attainment rates.

ATTENDANCE & ABSENCE

Attendance profile

Published Department for Education absence data for 2024/25. Lower absence rates are generally better.

2024/25
ABSENCE RATE

Overall absence

5.33%

Percentage of possible sessions missed.

0.89 pts lower than England
School 5.33%
Bexley 6.12%
London 6.38%
England 6.22%
ABSENCE RATE

Persistent absence

14.32%

Pupils missing 10% or more of sessions.

1.50 pts lower than England
School 14.32%
Bexley 15.72%
London 17.60%
England 15.82%
ABSENCE RATE

Severe absence

1.50%

Pupils missing 50% or more of sessions.

0.30 pts lower than England
School 1.50%
Bexley 1.68%
London 1.67%
England 1.80%
Council, regional and national comparisons are averages of published school-level percentages rather than pupil-weighted official absence rates.
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

School context

Comparison with open secondary schools.

CAPACITY

Capacity utilisation

89.4% 2.9 pts below England
St Columba's Catholic Boys' School
89.4%
Bexley
91.6%
London
91.3%
England
92.3%
Benchmarks use open schools in the same phase. Capacity utilisation is calculated from published pupil and capacity figures.
Sources: Department for Education · Get Information about Schools · Ofsted monthly management information