Cardinal Griffin Catholic College

About Cardinal Griffin Catholic College

Cardinal Griffin Catholic College is a popular choice among local families, with 240 applications for 119 places in the 2025/26 admissions round, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.02. Of those, 109 were first-preference offers, suggesting strong demand from parents who actively want a place here. The school is a state-funded Roman Catholic secondary for mixed genders aged 11 to 18, located in Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. Its most recent Ofsted inspection, an ungraded visit in March 2023, confirmed the school remains Good, a rating it has held consistently since its previous graded inspection in February 2018. Headteacher Hermione Gibson leads a school of 775 pupils, well within its capacity of 998. Just over a quarter of pupils (28.7%) are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average and gives some indication of the school's intake.

Academically, the school's Progress 8 score for the 2023/24 cohort was -0.31, placing it in the 'Below average' band nationally. This means that, on average, pupils achieved about a third of a grade less per subject than similar students nationally. The Attainment 8 score was 41.2, and 59.5% of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, though only 35.9% reached the stronger grade 5 threshold. The EBacc entry rate was low at 6.1%, and the EBacc average point score was 3.34. In the local authority context, the average Progress 8 score across Staffordshire secondary schools is -0.18, so Cardinal Griffin sits slightly below that. At A-level, the school's value added score was -0.43, also 'Below average', with an average points per entry of 24.98 (equivalent to a D+ grade). The school ranks 34th out of 75 similar schools in the local authority.

The school offers a solid range of facilities including a library, art studios, gymnasium, swimming pool, music rooms, a sixth form centre, sports hall, and chapel. Sports provision is broad, with swimming, cricket, rowing, dance, basketball, badminton, cross country, rounders, and martial arts. There is also a good selection of clubs such as Eco Club, Debate, Science Club, Orchestra, Gardening, DofE, Film Club, Choir, Book Club, Model UN, and Young Enterprise. For pupils with additional needs, the school has identified provisions for a range of SEND including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties, social emotional and mental health needs, speech language and communication needs, hearing impairment, and autistic spectrum disorder. This is a faith-based school with a Catholic character that is clearly oversubscribed, so families who share that faith or value the ethos should apply early. It suits parents who want a secondary with a sixth form, a wide extracurricular offer, and a strong sense of community, even if academic outcomes are below the local average.

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