St Aidan's Catholic Academy

Sunderland · SR2 7HJ

General information Secondary School · 11-18 years Who goes here 1057 pupils, 21.2% FSM

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 10.2% on SEN support Behaviour 6.1% absence rate Staff 8.6% turnover Financials £6,283 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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St Aidan's Catholic Academy

General Information

Address: Willowbank Road, Ashbrooke, Sunderland, SR2 7HJ – View on map
Phone: 01915200333
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Anne-Marie Whitten
Age range: 11-18 years
Demand for places (Year 7, September 2026): 176 families put it first for 179 places – 10 for every 10 places. 98% of them were offered a place. 10 of the 179 places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 10 · 2024 10 · 2025 10 · 2026 10
Sixth form: Yes
Intake: Boys
Religious character: Roman Catholic
Nursery provision: No

Who goes here

1057 pupils out of 1000 places At or near capacity

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 194
% eligible for free school meals: 21.2%
Pupil mix: 6 in 10 (more mixed than the Sunderland average)
English as an additional language: 24% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 8.6% a year (Sunderland 14.7%, typical in England 15.5%) Low turnover
Where they went: about 54% moved to another school, 46% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)

Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. "Low turnover" means it's among the quarter of similar schools in England where teachers are most likely to stay.

Behaviour

Awaiting Data

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Sunderland: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 16 (1.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.7)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 2
Suspensions for bullying: 18 (1.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 1.9)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 22 (1.3 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.8)
Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)

These are figures for all state secondary schools in Sunderland, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.

Attendance

Overall absence: 6.1%
Persistently absent pupils: 18.6%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 10.2%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 1.1%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Autistic spectrum disorder: 48 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 20 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 19 pupils
Hearing impairment: 7 pupils
Speech, language and communications needs: 4 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Autistic spectrum disorder: 5 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Hearing impairment: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

–

Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Good 2023 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted changed how it rates schools in the last couple of years, so ratings from different years aren't always on the same scale - that's why we show the year alongside every rating.

Attainment 8 score: 51.2
Compared with the area: 6.7 points above the Sunderland average (44.5)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (+0.5 points against an expected 50.7)
Grade 4+ in English and maths: 78% (Sunderland 63%, England 65%) Broadly steady
Data year: 2024/25

View the School Context Comparator – how this school's results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.

GCSE results over time

This schoolSunderland averageEngland→ Broadly steady No clear rise or fall since 2022/23 (changes this small are normal from one year group to the next). In 2024/25 this school was 6.7 points above the Sunderland average (44.5).

About the Attainment 8 score

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average result across 8 GCSE-equivalent qualifications (English and maths count double). It shows how pupils performed, not how much progress they made getting there - a school with a higher score doesn't necessarily add more value, since pupils often arrive with different starting points. Progress 8 is the measure designed to account for that, but it currently can't be calculated for any school for the two most recent academic years, due to a nationwide gap in the data caused by COVID-19 disruption to Key Stage 2 testing.

2nd of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for Attainment 8

#1Hetton Academy51.8
#2St Aidan's Catholic Academy51.2
#3St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy50.7
#4Southmoor Academy49.0

Click to see the full ranking

Attainment 8 ranking

Illustrative MVP scores - not based on verified data yet.

Rank School Score

#1Hetton Academy51.8
#2St Aidan's Catholic Academy51.2
#3St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy50.7
#4Southmoor Academy49.0
#5St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington48.9
#6Monkwearmouth Academy45.8
#7Red House Academy44.8
#8Farringdon Community Academy44.6
#9Venerable Bede Church of England Academy44.1
#10Kepier43.6
#11Christ's College43.2
#12Biddick Academy42.5
#13Castle View Enterprise Academy41.9
#14Oxclose Community Academy41.8
#15Thornhill Academy41.4
#16Sandhill View Academy38.6
#17Washington Academy33.1
#18Academy 36031.7

Leaver Destinations

In education, employment, or training a year later: 92.0%
Went into further education: 87.0%
Data year: 2024/25

About leaver destinations

This shows where a school's Year 11 leavers were recorded the following year - in a "sustained" destination means in education, an apprenticeship, or employment for at least 6 months, not just enrolled briefly. It's a different picture from exam results alone, and can highlight schools that support pupils well beyond just their GCSE grades.

GCSE Subjects Offered

Maths (General)
English Language
English Literature
History
Religious Studies
Geography
Science Double Award
Spanish
Chemistry (General)
Physics (General)
Biology
Art & Design

About this subject list

This isn't the school's own description of its curriculum - it's real DfE exam entry data, showing which GCSE subjects this school's pupils were actually entered for in 2024/25. A subject not appearing here may still be taught but had no pupils entered that year, so treat this as a helpful guide rather than a complete guarantee - it's worth confirming directly with the school for the year your child would actually study.

View full Ofsted inspection report

9th of 13 secondary schools in Sunderland for Ofsted rating

#7Red House AcademyGood
#8Southmoor AcademyGood
#9St Aidan's Catholic AcademyGood
#10St Anthony's Girls' Catholic AcademyGood
#11St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, WashingtonGood

Click to see the full ranking

Ofsted Rating ranking

Based on real Ofsted ratings (via official DfE data) for schools on the same four-word grading scale.

Rank School Score

#1Academy 360Good
#2Castle View Enterprise AcademyGood
#3Christ's CollegeGood
#4KepierGood
#5Monkwearmouth AcademyGood
#6Oxclose Community AcademyGood
#7Red House AcademyGood
#8Southmoor AcademyGood
#9St Aidan's Catholic AcademyGood
#10St Anthony's Girls' Catholic AcademyGood
#11St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, WashingtonGood
#12Thornhill AcademyGood
#13Venerable Bede Church of England AcademyGood

Financials

Spending per pupil: £6,283 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

17th of 18 secondary schools in Sunderland for spending per pupil

#15St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington£7,434
#16St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy£6,931
#17St Aidan's Catholic Academy£6,283
#18Christ's College£6,250

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Red House Academy£10,734
#2Sandhill View Academy£9,904
#3Farringdon Community Academy£9,820
#4Thornhill Academy£9,535
#5Washington Academy£9,236
#6Academy 360£9,167
#7Hetton Academy£8,532
#8Castle View Enterprise Academy£8,513
#9Venerable Bede Church of England Academy£8,360
#10Monkwearmouth Academy£8,229
#11Oxclose Community Academy£8,210
#12Biddick Academy£8,035
#13Kepier£7,915
#14Southmoor Academy£7,662
#15St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington£7,434
#16St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy£6,931
#17St Aidan's Catholic Academy£6,283
#18Christ's College£6,250

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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General Information

Who goes here

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Behaviour

Across Sunderland: suspensions by reason

Attendance

SEN

Most common needs - SEN Support

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Educational Attainment

Attainment 8 ranking

Leaver Destinations ?

GCSE Subjects Offered ?

Ofsted Rating ranking

Financials

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Leaver Destinations

GCSE Subjects Offered