St Richard's Catholic College
St Richard's Catholic College is a converter academy in Bexhill-on-Sea for boys and girls aged 11 to 16. It has 1,029 pupils, 129 more than it has places for. About 14 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far fewer than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was good, back in 2021.
Ashdown Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, TN40 1SE01424 731070strichardscc.comMr Paul Barber principalAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 12 October 2021, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Good overall.
This inspection is more than 4 years old. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of one grade.
Results
GCSE results, summer 2025
203 pupils sat their GCSEs. Here is how they did against every state secondary in England. These are the results of St Richard's Catholic College, the school this one replaced.
All GCSE measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025† | 2024† | 2023† | 2022† | 2019† | 2018† | East Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of Year 11 | 203 | 205 | 198 | 210 | 200 | 185 | – | – |
| Average GCSE scoreAttainment 8 | 58.4 | 56.4 | 58.3 | 61.6 | 54.2 | 55.5 | 44.3 | 46.8 |
| Progress from age 11Progress 8 | – | +0.65 | +0.96 | +0.98 | +0.43 | +0.56 | – | – |
| Strong pass in English and mathsGrade 5+ in English and maths | 69% | 71% | 66% | 73% | 59% | 61% | 43% | 46% |
| Standard pass in English and mathsGrade 4+ in English and maths | 86% | 85% | 84% | 86% | 78% | 83% | 66% | 66% |
| Core subjects scoreEBacc average point score | 5.48 | 5.32 | 5.43 | 5.71 | 5.07 | 5.09 | 3.91 | 4.15 |
| Taking the core subjectsEBacc entry | 65% | 64% | 61% | 62% | 70% | 62% | 39% | 41% |
| Average GCSE score: low-income pupilsAttainment 8, disadvantaged | 43.5 | 47.3 | 46.9 | 46.3 | 41.9 | 44.9 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: other pupilsAttainment 8, non-disadvantaged | 61.3 | 57.7 | 60.3 | 64.1 | 56.0 | 57.7 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started behindAttainment 8, low prior attainers | – | 33.0 | 35.7 | 44.9 | 38.0 | 32.4 | – | – |
| Average GCSE score: pupils who started aheadAttainment 8, high prior attainers | – | 70.8 | 73.8 | 75.9 | 63.8 | 67.2 | – | – |
† These results are for St Richard's Catholic College, the school this one replaced in October 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. 1 of the 3 gaps is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At GCSE, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Open to all. There is no entrance test. As a Roman Catholic school it may put families of that faith first. Check the school's own admissions rules.
In 2026 every child who applied got a place, so how far away you live didn't matter. That could change if the school gets more popular.
We measure in a straight line from the middle of your postcode to the school. The council measures its own way, and the cut-off changes every year. Use this as a rough guide, and read the council's admissions booklet before you apply.
How places were given out for September 2026. Every child who applied got a place (203 offers for 200 places). 261 families put it down as their first choice and 193 of them got in (74%).
| Entry | Places | Put it first | Applied at all | Got a place | First choices who got in | How far the last child lived | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Secondary | 200 | 261 | 463 | 203 | 74% | – all offered | LA |
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: Specific learning difficulty (60), Autistic spectrum disorder (28), emotional and mental health (26), language and communications needs (17), Moderate learning difficulty (7), Hearing impairment (4).
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 94.3% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 91.4%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25† | 2023/24† | 2022/23† | 2021/22† | 2020/21† | 2018/19† | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 5.7% | 5.5% | 5.7% | 6.8% | 3.7% | 4.5% | 8.6% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4.3% | 5.3% | 2.9% | 3.5% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.7% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 0.8% | 1.0% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 11.8% | 11.6% | 13.6% | 17.5% | 7.4% | 9.0% | 23.9% |
† These attendance figures are for St Richard's Catholic College, the school this one replaced in October 2025. Same building and the same children. It got a new registration number, usually because it joined an academy trust.
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the council school accounts, year to March 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other secondary schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest secondary schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bexhill High Academy | Academy | 1.7 miles | 1,441 | No overall grade 2025 | 34 | Compare |
| Mulberry Academy St Leonards | Academy | 2.2 miles | – | No overall grade 2025 | – | Compare |
| Lansdowne Children's Centre | Secure units | 3.2 miles | – | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Ark Alexandra Academy | Academy | 4.2 miles | 1,315 | Report card 2026 | 32 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is St Richard's Catholic College a good school?
St Richard's Catholic College doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it good at its last inspection in October 2021.
What is St Richard's Catholic College's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated St Richard's Catholic College good at its last full inspection on 12 October 2021. That was more than four years ago. When Ofsted next visits, the school will get a report card instead of a single grade.
How good are St Richard's Catholic College's GCSE results?
In summer 2025, 69% of pupils got a grade 5 or better in both English and maths. Across England it was 46%. Its Attainment 8 score, which is the average grade across a pupil's best eight subjects times ten, was 58.4, against 46.8 for England. In each subject, pupils here finished most of a grade ahead of children across England who started secondary school at the same level.
How many pupils does St Richard's Catholic College have?
1,029 pupils aged 11 to 16 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 900 places, so it is 114% full.
What is attendance like at St Richard's Catholic College?
Pupils were in school 94.3% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 91.4%. 12% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
How big are the classes at St Richard's Catholic College?
The average class had 23.9 pupils in January 2026. Across England it was 22.8. 5% of classes had more than 30 pupils.
Does St Richard's Catholic College have a sixth form?
No. Pupils leave after Year 11 for a sixth form elsewhere, a college or an apprenticeship.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Ashdown Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, TN40 1SE
- Telephone
- 01424 731070
- Website
- www.strichardscc.com
- Principal
- Mr Paul Barber
- Type of school
- Converter academy (Academy converter, academies)
- Phase
- Secondary school, ages 11-16
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic, Diocese of Arundel and Brighton
- Multi-academy trust
- Bosco Catholic Education Trust (18 schools)
- Local authority
- East Sussex
- Ward
- Bexhill Sackville
- Constituency
- Bexhill and Battle
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Opened
- 1 October 2025 (academy converter)
- URN
- 151779 · LAESTAB 8454606 · UKPRN 10097843
- Formerly
- St Richard's Catholic College
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- GCSE results: DfE key stage 4 performance tables, 2024/25 final.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Class sizes: DfE schools, pupils and their characteristics, January 2026.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, consistent financial reporting 2024/25.
- Admissions outcomes: East Sussex council's published allocation statistics (source), entry years 2026.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.