St Benedict's Catholic College
Secondary · Voluntary aided school · Ages 11–16 · Colchester, Essex
Last distance offered · Year 7 2026
Every applicant was offered a place
From Essex County Council · offers on 2 March 2026
Unlock every school · £9.99 Open on the map →St Benedict's Catholic College is a secondary school in Colchester, Essex for ages 11–16 (voluntary aided school). Its latest Ofsted outcome is School remains Good, from the inspection on 19 July 2023. Essex has published a last distance offered for this school for Year 7 2022 to 2026 entry.
St Benedict's Catholic College catchment area: last distance offered
Parents often call this the catchment area: it's how far from the school the last child offered a place lived. It changes every year.
| Entry | Last distance offered |
|---|---|
| Year 7 2026 | Every applicant was offered a place |
| Year 7 2025 | Not published |
| Year 7 2023 | Not published |
| Year 7 2022 | Not published |
What the pass includes · How to read it: one past year, not a catchment
What the figures show
- Year 7 2026 drew 213 first-choice applications for 173 offers, 1.2 first choices per offer, the 13th highest of 75 Essex secondary schools.
- Of the Year 7 2026 offers, 142 went to first-choice families and 31 to families ranking it second or lower; 71 first-choice families (33%) were not offered a place.
- In 2024/25, 62% of pupils got grade 5 or above in GCSE English and maths (England 45%), with an Attainment 8 score of 54.7 (England 46).
- There are 20.3 pupils per teacher, against a middle figure of 17.7 across the 8 nearest secondary schools in Essex.
Worked out by Catchmently from the published figures on this page and those for other Essex schools. Distances are as published; how they were measured differs between admission authorities.
Key facts
- Address
- Norman Way, Colchester, CO3 3US
- Type
- Voluntary aided school
- Phase
- Secondary
- Ages
- 11–16
- Admissions policy
- Non-selective
- Religious character
- Roman Catholic
- Council
- Essex
- Pupils on roll
- 905 January 2026 school census
- Free school meals
- 9.4% of pupils eligible
- Pupils per teacher
- 20.3
Official record: Get Information about Schools · as at 15 September 2026
Ofsted
School remains Good Inspected 19 July 2023
Strengths
- “‘It’s more than a school: it’s a community’ is one of many positive comments from parents.”
- “St Benedict’s is a welcoming school with a strong ethos of caring for pupils and promoting academic achievement.”
- “Pupils are respectful to one another and to staff.”
To improve
- “However, in a small number of subjects, assessment is not always used well or consistently.”
- “Teachers do not always check how much pupils can remember or understand.”
- “As a result, staff are not always able to provide pupils with the right support to improve their learning.”
Safeguarding: Effective
Quoted from the Ofsted report published 26 September 2023 (read the report). Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Exam results
| Measure | School | England |
|---|---|---|
| GCSE English and maths, grade 5 or above (2024/25) | 62% | 45% |
| Attainment 8 score (2024/25) | 54.7 | 46 |
Department for Education school performance data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Applications and offers
- 2026 Year 7 entry: 213 first-preference applications, 173 offers in total, 142 offers to first-preference applicants.
Department for Education, school-level applications and offers, figures on national offer day. Earlier years are in the pass.
Nearby secondary schools
Straight-line distance, in Essex.
- Colchester County High School for Girls 0.0 mi Outstanding
- Philip Morant School and College 0.3 mi Good Last distance published
- Colchester Royal Grammar School 0.5 mi No Ofsted grade
- St Helena School 0.9 mi Good Last distance published
- Paxman Academy 0.9 mi Good Last distance published
- The Stanway School 1.5 mi School remains Good Last distance published
- The Thomas Lord Audley School 1.6 mi Standards maintained Last distance published
- The Gilberd School 2.8 mi Standards maintained Last distance published