SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Hove, Brighton and Hove

Cardinal Newman Catholic School

The Upper Drive, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 6ND

Sixth form Roman Catholic Full
School website 01273558551

Ofsted

Inspected under the current framework, which gives no overall grade, on 8 October 2024.

Inspections since September 2024 do not give an overall grade, so there is no one-word judgement to report. The full report sets out what inspectors found.

Read the Ofsted report

GCSE results 2024/25

Attainment 8 score

50.4 England 47

The average grade across eight GCSEs, doubling English and maths. 50 is roughly a grade 5 average.

Grade 5+ in English & maths

48% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

72% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.5 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

34% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the upper half of state-funded secondaries in England.

Compared with the fifth of schools whose intake is second least disadvantaged, which is where this one sits, it is in the better-performing half.

Progress 8 2023/24

0.56confidence interval 0.41 to 0.71

Taking that range into account, pupils made more progress than similar pupils nationally. DfE bands this as well above average.

Progress 8 measures how far pupils moved between the end of primary and their GCSEs, which makes it far fairer than raw attainment. It is shown for 2023/24 because it could not be calculated for 2024/25: that year group would have sat their key stage 2 tests in summer 2020, when the tests were cancelled, so there is no starting point to measure from. Every school in England is affected, not just this one.

A levels 2024/25

Average grade per entry
B-
Average points per entry
37.9

England average 32.3

A level students
250

Pupils

Pupils on roll
2657
Places
2600
How full
Full — 2657 pupils against 2600 places
Girls / boys
1232 / 1425
Overall absence
9%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
25%

secondary schools average 23.9% — pupils missing 10% or more of sessions

Free school meals, last 6 years
21%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
23%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
2%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
16%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
94%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
92%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
1%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
52%
No sustained destination
4%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
359

After sixth form

Went to university
31%

England 50%

In education, work or training
78%

England 84.3%

Started an apprenticeship
3%

England 6.5%

Students in the cohort
334

Going on to university 2021/22 leavers

Went to a top third university

29% England 20.9%

The third of higher education providers whose entrants hold the highest average entry qualifications. It is the closest thing in the public data to "did they get into a competitive university", and it separates schools far more sharply than the headline progression rate does.

Went on to a degree
71%

England 65.3%

Students in the cohort
277

These follow an earlier group of leavers than the figures above, and count anyone reaching higher education within two years rather than the term after leaving, so they are not directly comparable with them.

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year, and why the university figures track leavers from 2021/22. Small cohorts move these percentages a long way — check the cohort size before reading much into a gap.

The neighbourhood around the school

Census 2021 figures for Brighton and Hove 011A, the statistical neighbourhood the school sits in — roughly 1,500 residents. It describes the area, not the pupils, who may travel in from further away.

Adults with a degree
57%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
12%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
82%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
3%

England 17%

Households with no car
15%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
40%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Voluntary aided school
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–18
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Sixth form
Yes
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Claire Jarman
Local authority
Brighton and Hove
Ward
Westdene & Hove Park
Constituency
Hove and Portslade
URN
114611

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
The Montessori PlaceOther independent school No grade 0.4 mi
Brighton Girls GDSTOther independent school No grade 0.7 mi
Hove Park School and Sixth Form CentreCommunity school No grade 41.1 1 mi
Dorothy Stringer SchoolCommunity school Good 2023 53.3 1 mi
Kings BrightonOther independent school No grade 1.1 mi
Blatchington Mill SchoolCommunity school Good 2022 51 1.2 mi
Varndean SchoolCommunity school Good 2022 48.8 1.3 mi
Patcham High SchoolCommunity school Good 2023 45.5 1.9 mi

Schools with a similar intake

State-funded secondary schools nationally whose share of disadvantaged pupils is closest to this school's. This is the fairest like-for-like comparison the published data supports.

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8
Malcolm Arnold AcademyAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 41.4
Barr Beacon SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 51
Southfield School for GirlsAcademy converter Good 2023 46.8
Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary AcademyAcademy converter No grade 48.1
Notre Dame High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 52.8
Caludon Castle SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 46.5
St Thomas More Catholic SchoolAcademy converter Good 2023 47
Ruislip High SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 54.1

Where these figures come from

  • School details, address and pupil numbers — Get Information About Schools, the DfE register, as at 14 August 2026.
  • Exam results — DfE performance tables, 2024/25, and 2023/24 for Progress 8.
  • Free school meals, EAL and SEN — school census, 2024/25.
  • Ofsted — Ofsted management information, latest inspections as at 30 June 2026.
  • Neighbourhood figures — ONS Census 2021, lower layer super output area.

All published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. If something here looks wrong, the school's own website is the authority on admissions and open days.