SF School Facts UK

Secondary school in Hereford, Herefordshire, County of

St Mary's RC High School

Lugwardine, Hereford, Herefordshire, HR1 4DR

Roman Catholic Full
School website 01432850416

Ofsted

Standards maintained at the last ungraded inspection, on 11 December 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

52.2 England 47

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

Grade 5+ in English & maths

60% England 46.2%

Grade 4+ in English & maths

80% England 66.2%

EBacc average point score

4.7 England 4.2

Entered the EBacc

56% England 40.8%

On Attainment 8 this school is in the top quarter of state-funded secondaries in England.

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

Progress 8 2023/24

0.10confidence interval -0.14 to 0.33

Taking that range into account, progress was not statistically different from the national average. DfE bands this as 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.

Pupils

Pupils on roll
745
Places
675
How full
Full — 745 pupils against 675 places
Girls / boys
372 / 373
Overall absence
5%

secondary schools average 8.6%

Persistently absent
12%

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

Free school meals, last 6 years
11%

England 25.7%

English as an additional language
26%

England 18.7%

With an EHC plan
5%

England 3.5%

On SEN support
16%

England 15%

What pupils do next

After GCSEs

In education, work or training
95%

England 91.4%

Stayed in education
90%

England 85.4%

Started an apprenticeship
4%

England 3.5%

Stayed at this school's sixth form
1%
No sustained destination
4%

England 5.8%

Pupils in the cohort
147

A destination counts only if it lasted at least six months, which is why these figures lag the exam results by a year. 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 Herefordshire 008A, 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
39%

England 33.8%

Adults with no qualifications
13%

England 18.3%

Households owning their home
80%

England 62.7%

Households in social housing
5%

England 17%

Households with no car
6%

England 21.9%

Adults economically inactive
35%

England 39.9%

School details

Type
Voluntary aided school
Phase
Secondary
Ages
Ages 11–16
Gender
Mixed
Admissions
Non-selective
Religious character
Roman Catholic
Sixth form
No
Nursery
No
Boarding
Day school
Headteacher
Headteacher: Stuart Wetson
Ward
Hagley
Constituency
North Herefordshire
URN
116992

The unique reference number used in all official school data.

Nearest secondary schools

SchoolOfstedAttainment 8Distance
The Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat SchoolVoluntary aided school No grade 45.9 1.1 mi
Aylestone SchoolCommunity school Requires improvement 2024 36.3 1.5 mi
Hereford Cathedral School With A Junior SchoolOther independent school No grade 2.5 mi
The Hereford Church of England AcademyAcademy sponsor led Requires improvement 2024 39.6 3.5 mi
Whitecross HerefordAcademy converter Good 2023 46.5 3.6 mi
The Steiner Academy HerefordAcademy sponsor led Good 2023 51 7.3 mi
Kingstone High SchoolAcademy converter Good 2024 42.3 8.5 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
The Cardinal Wiseman Catholic SchoolVoluntary aided school Outstanding 2024 58.4
The Cottesloe SchoolFoundation school No grade 45.4
Sandbach SchoolFree schools No grade 48.2
Townley Grammar SchoolAcademy converter Outstanding 2023 75
WaingelsAcademy converter Good 2023 50.8
Brighton Hill Community SchoolAcademy converter Good 2022 44.5
The John Fisher SchoolVoluntary aided school Good 2023 55.6
Pensby High SchoolFoundation school Good 2023 44.8

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.