Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School

About Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School

Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School sits within Coventry local authority as one of 24 state secondary schools in the area, and it holds a Good rating from Ofsted — a solid position in a landscape where only three schools have achieved Outstanding. Among its closest peers in the local rankings, it sits behind Eden Girls' School, Coventry (the nearest Outstanding school, 4.2 km away), Seva School, and Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School, another Catholic secondary. The school is a mixed Roman Catholic secondary for pupils aged 11 to 18, led by headteacher Laura Burtonwood, and it currently educates 1,439 students. Its religious character gives it a distinctive place in Coventry’s school market, and families choosing it are often weighing faith-based education against the higher-ranked options nearby. The school’s most recent graded inspection was in September 2016, when it was rated Good overall, with leadership and management also judged Good. An ungraded inspection in October 2021 confirmed the school remains Good, meaning inspectors saw no reason to change the rating.

Academically, the school’s most recent Ofsted report from 2016 gave it a Good overall effectiveness rating, with leadership and management also Good. However, the data does not include a Progress 8 score, Attainment 8, or any specific exam results for Cardinal Wiseman, so it is not possible to compare its performance directly to the Coventry local authority average Progress 8 of 0.07. The previous inspection in December 2014 rated the school Requires Improvement overall, with leadership and management at that time judged as Requires Improvement (grade 3). The improvement to Good by 2016 represents a clear upward trajectory, and the 2021 ungraded inspection confirmed that this standard has been maintained. For parents focused on academic outcomes, the lack of published Progress 8 or KS2-to-KS4 value-added data means they would need to look at the school’s own published results or ask directly about how its pupils perform relative to the Coventry average.

The school offers a wide range of facilities, including science labs, a theatre, gymnasium, playing fields, a sixth form centre, music rooms, and a chapel, which reflects its Catholic identity. Sports provision is extensive, with cricket, hockey, rowing, martial arts, athletics, and football among the options, and there are clubs such as choir, Model UN, art club, and a newspaper group. The school is oversubscribed, with 1,439 pupils on roll, and as a faith school, admission priority is typically given to Catholic families, though the exact criteria are not detailed in this data. This school will suit families who value a Catholic secondary with a strong sixth form, a broad extracurricular programme, and a Good Ofsted rating, but who are comfortable that it is not among the top-ranked schools in Coventry. For those seeking Outstanding provision, Eden Girls’ School is the nearest alternative, though it is a single-sex school and 4.2 km away.

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